Penang’s freedom of information law not properly enforced, says activist

Free Malaysia Today

Wathshlah Naidu says the Penang Island City Council’s failure to heed a statutory deadline exposes a lack of adherence to the law.   Read More:  https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2025/02/06/penangs-freedom-of-information-law-not-properly-enforced-says-activist/   Laporan Lanjut:  https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/bahasa/tempatan/2025/02/06/enakmen-kebebasan-maklumat-p-pinang-tak-dikuat-kuasa-dengan-betul-kata-aktivis/   Free Malaysia Today is an independent, bi-lingual news portal with a focus on Malaysian current affairs.    Subscribe to our channel - http://bit.ly/2Qo08ry   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Check us out at https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com  Follow FMT on Facebook: https://bit.ly/49JJoo5  Follow FMT on Dailymotion: https://bit.ly/2WGITHM  Follow FMT on X: https://bit.ly/48zARSW  Follow FMT on Instagram: https://bit.ly/48Cq76h  Follow FMT on TikTok : https://bit.ly/3uKuQFp  Follow FMT Berita on TikTok: https://bit.ly/48vpnQG  Follow FMT Telegram - https://bit.ly/42VyzMX  Follow FMT LinkedIn - https://bit.ly/42YytEb  Follow FMT Lifestyle on Instagram: https://bit.ly/42WrsUj  Follow FMT on WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/49GMbxW  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Download FMT News App:  Google Play – http://bit.ly/2YSuV46  App Store – https://apple.co/2HNH7gZ  Huawei AppGallery - https://bit.ly/2D2OpNP   #FMTNews #MBPP #FreedomOfInformation #Enactment

Transcript

00:00Penang's freedom of information enactment is still not being properly enforced, with government agencies unaware of their duties under the law, says a transparency advocate.

00:12Centre for Independent Journalism Executive Director Washla Naidoo said the Penang Island City Council's failure to meet a statutory deadline for responding to a request for information exposes a lack of adherence to the law.

00:26Under access to information rules made pursuant to Penang's Freedom of Information Enactment 2010, the designated officer in each state government department or agency must respond to an applicant within 14 working days.

00:40Washla said the Penang government must provide training for all public bodies and officers, adding that public interest information should be made available without lengthy FOI requests.

00:51She was commenting on a rebuke leveled at MBPP by the state's Freedom of Information Appeals Board after it failed to respond to a request within the prescribed deadline.

01:02Meanwhile, Houyi Zhen, a research analyst at the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network at Sunway University, pointed out that FOI applicants have the right to appeal if their request is wrongly denied.

01:14He also said that Penang's FOI enactment suffers from a significant flaw in that it does not allow appeals to a court of law unlike FOI laws in other countries.

01:25Pan Yujo, FMT News.

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