Source: Blic
Safety-information agency, Ministry for Capital Investments and Ministry for Internal Affairs, Belgrade District Prosecutor's Office and public companies like „JAT Airways“ and the Airport „Nikola Tesla“ are at the top of the list of institutions that have during the last year hidden data from the public.How much the state is interested to open up their archives to the citizens is depicted in the fact that the Government of Serbia hasn't even once ordered the bodies in power to deliver the requested information, although it was obliged to do so, claims for „Blic“ Commissioner for Information, Mr. Rodoljub Sabic. He announces for our newspaper that in the next ten days he would submit to the Assembly of Serbia his Report on Implementation of the Law of Access to Information of Public Interest, in which those data would also appear.
Parties which are nowadays hiding the donors and incurring costs of pre-electoral campaigns are obviously not the only ones who do not want to cooperate. The citizens of Serbia have during the last year been deprived for many interesting information. Although much has been spoken about that, BIA has refused to give the data about the number of wiretapped in 2005. The public didn't see the documents about tender or about the Contract on Purchase on Second-hand, popular „colored“ trains from Sweden. The public didn't either receive the data about the salaries of Managers and Chairmen of the Management Boards in Public Companies, nor in which companies the national representatives from the previous convocation were members and how much were they paid for that.
The thing which is worrisome is exactly the attitude of the Government as the only institution that can force the state bodies to give the requested information. Sabic states that the Government has never positively replied to the tens of requests for certain information.
- The next Government should have much more active relationship towards the availability of information, because this is an efficient anti-corruption mechanism in the society facing corruption of shocking dimensions - says Sabic.
In order not to paint everything in black, speaking about the attitude of the Government towards the public, the Ministries of Science and Ecology, Finances and Health took care about that. Those three resources of the Government has been marked as the most open towards the public, that „they have progressed the most speaking about the availability of information“.
N. M. J.
Velja Ilic goes the old way
Reports on the openness of institutions towards the public have been delivered this year by 621 state bodies, which is twice as much as in the last year. Out of the six top state institutions, the report hasn't been delivered by the Republic Public Prosecutor's Office. Ministry for Capital Investments hasn't this year, as well as during the last year delivered the report on the legal deadline, and every second municipality in Serbia followed the example set by Velimir Ilic. Reports have been delivered by 91 local self-governments.
