Sri Lanka's cabinet approves right to information bill

Sri Lanka's cabinet has approved a key legislation which will ensure the public has access to information from state institutions.

The Right to Information Bill has been approved by the cabinet and would soon be presented to parliament, Cabinet Spokesperson Rajitha Senaratne siad here at a weekly media briefing, Xinhua news agency reported.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament on early Thursday that the bill would be discussed at provincial level and then be presented to parliament to be approved and made law.

Several attempts were made in the past to have the Right to Information Bill passed by parliament but it was always opposed by the majority of lawmakers.

But, the new government that took office in August assured it will back the implementation of the Right to Information Bill in order to ensure transparency at state institutions.

The bill will force any public authority to make sure that the public are enlightened about relevant procedures or decisions that could affect them.

Hence it guarantees citizens access to information from all public authorities unless the information could damage state security.