Centre for Independent Journalism executive director Wathshlah Naidu said the Penang Island City Council’s (MBPP) failure to meet a statutory deadline for responding to a request for information exposes a lack of adherence to the law.

Under 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.

“The first decision in this case shows there is still a lack of full understanding of the exemptions allowed under the FOI enactment.

“The Penang government must provide thorough and ongoing training for all public bodies and officers. Public interest information should also be made available without forcing people to go through lengthy FOI requests,” she told FMT.

Wathshlah was commenting on a rebuke levelled at MBPP by the state’s freedom of information (FOI) appeals board after it failed to respond to a request within the prescribed deadline.

The appeals board also overturned an MBPP decision and ordered the release of a Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA) report drawn up in connection with the construction of a 28-storey foreign workers’ dormitory in Batu Maung.

Ho Yi Jian, a research analyst at the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (Asia HQ) at Sunway University, pointed out that FOI applicants have the right to appeal if their request is wrongly denied.

“If (the designated) officer is unresponsive, they should escalate the matter to the administrators at the state secretary’s office (SUK), as listed on the Penang government’s FOI website,” he said.

Ho said all documents should be made accessible to the public unless they are exempted under the FOI enactment or classified as an official secret under the Official Secrets Act 1972 (OSA).

He 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 other FOI laws in other countries.

“This is a major weakness. Ideally, a higher court should be able to further examine FOI appeal cases, especially if there are elements of corruption or wrongdoing linked to the requested information,” he said.

Civil society group Aliran warned that Penang — one of only two states with an FOI law — risks rendering the law meaningless if enforcement is weak.

“The council’s failure to act within the stipulated time frame is not just an administrative lapse, it is a violation of this fundamental right,” it said in a statement to FMT.

“Institutions like MBPP are bound by the FOI enactment. Compliance with the law is not optional,” he said.