The Right to Information Act will be implemented within three months of gazetting which is due to be issued on February 3 and information officials have been appointed for fifty of the fifty two institutions, Parliamentary Reforms and Mass Media Minister Gayantha Karunatillaka told a workshop on the Right to Information Act at Saman Hotel, Tangalle.
The minister said that there is no necessity of a media spokesman for the police because the OICs of police stations will be appointed as information officers. He said that every information other than those connected with national security will be provided to the people.
The minister said that the Act when implemented it will be a boon to the journalists as well as the people of the country because such a privilege was not enjoyed by the journalists and the people so far.
The media minister said that a media village will be set up in each and every district to provide housing facilities to the deserving provincial journalists at a subsidy rate. He said that this is a part of the welfare activities planned for the journalists.
He said that a land in Colombo has been already identified in Colombo for the setting up of a housing village for journalists in Colombo district.He said that a land belonging to the SLBC was selected but it was found later that the ownership of this land had changed without the knowledge of the SLBC.
The Minister said that at the initial stage 25 houses will be set up in each media village. He said the minister of housing Sajith Premadasa extends his and his ministry’s fullest possible cooperation towards this worthy task.
The minister continuing said that there is a misunderstanding among people that the media persons only those residing in Colombo city He said it is not so it was not so it was the provincial journalists who report most of the incidents.He said when new identity cards are issued to journalists the words provincial journalists will not be used
The minister further said that there was an era during the previous regime when journalists were done to death abducted utilising white vans some of them migrated to foreign countries.
He said that there is no such thing today the journalists can work with independence and without any embarrassment and harassment because there is no pressure from the present regime.