{"id":174730,"date":"2017-03-08T13:02:08","date_gmt":"2017-03-08T07:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=174730"},"modified":"2017-03-08T13:48:21","modified_gmt":"2017-03-08T08:18:21","slug":"info-dg-claims-rti-commissions-funds-released-but-status-still-unclear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/info-dg-claims-rti-commissions-funds-released-but-status-still-unclear\/","title":{"rendered":"Info DG Claims RTI Commission’s Funds Released, But Status Still Unclear\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Director General of the Information Department, Ranga Kalansooriya<\/a> announced yesterday that the Treasury had released the Rs 76 million requested by the Right to Information<\/a> (RTI) Commission but the source to which it had been released remained unclear.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Info DG and the Media Minister<\/p><\/div>\n

Posting a message on his twitter account, he congratulated the media for taking up the matter and \u2018highlighting the issue<\/a>.\u2019 Earlier, Colombo Telegraph<\/em>,\u00a0the Sunday Times,<\/i> the Financial Times<\/i> and the Daily Mirror<\/i> had consistently pursued the question of an adequate and independent financial allocation for the Commission. <\/span><\/p>\n

This was after the Sunday Times<\/i> discovered through a supplementary estimate presented in Parliament for the RTI Commission by the Office of the President, that a separate financial allocation for the Commission had not been contained in the 2017 National Budget. The Government had explained that this was because the Commission had come into existence after the budgetary allocations had been decided on. As a result, the provisions of the Act which states that the Commission should have a separate Fund to which moneys voted on by Parliament was not being conformed to. <\/span><\/p>\n

The RTI Commission is the RTI Act\u2019s powerful supervisory, policy making and adjudicating oversight body. Vested with the authority to take offenders to court, it is mandated to monitor Public Authorities subject to the RTI Act, including not only Government bodies but also corporate, private and non-governmental bodies. In a statement that the Commission issued last month, it explained that it was negotiating with the Ministry of Finance to resolve this matter and to enable the needed allocations in order for it to function smoothly.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Calls made by the Colombo Telegraph to the Ministry of Finance to check the authenticity of the claim made on social media by the Director General, Information disclosed that the Ministry was considering, on the request of the Commission, if a separate supplementary estimate for the body could be placed before Parliament this year. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018These things cannot be done like magic\u2019 a senior ministry official attached to the Department of Budgets said \u2018The Minister has already assured that he will make sure that the RTI Commission will receive its funds. We are proud of this law and the Commission as these are credits to the country. If there is any specific roadblock, he will intervene.\u2019 he said.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Vested Interests Of \u2018Indecent\u2019 Civil Society Activists Against RTI<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Colombo Telegraph reliably learns that certain groups with vested interests are heavily engaged in trying to muddy the operationalising of the Right to Information (RTI) Act in Sri Lanka due to fear of RTI being used to expose their nefarious dealings.<\/span><\/p>\n

The RTI Act and the Regulations of the RTI Commission, both ranked as making Sri Lanka\u2019s RTI system the 3<\/span>rd<\/sup><\/span> best in the world, is the only notable achievement of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe Government after two years of being in power. An important part of the law is that it can be used not only against Government but other entities, private and non-governmental as well.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Due to the fear that this powerful system may be used against them, various groups (incorporated and unincorporated) have sprung up attempting to sabotage RTI. Their sensationalist efforts includes trying to pass off as a \u2018private response\u2019, the public reply sent by the RTI Commission to a citizen regarding its negotiations with the Ministry of Finance to secure an independent funding allocation.<\/span><\/p>\n

One such scam which has led to agitation on their part is in regard to attempts to prevent RTI being used to the scam where Ravaya<\/a> had collected a whopping sum of Rs 12.7 million from unsuspecting individuals to be deposited in the so-called Ravaya Solidarity Fund. Thereafter Rs 5 million was personally pocketed by Victor Ivan (he earlier demanded Rs 20 million) without the contributors to the so-called \u2018crowd funding\u2019 initiative knowing about it.<\/p>\n

Although supporters were told that they would receive shares for their pledged donations that too never took place. Later, some of those contributors protested and lodged complaints with the Registrar of Companies. One such contributor who gave Rs 100,000 to the Ravaya Solidarity Fund was public interest litigation activist Nagananda Kodituwakku<\/a> who was not only not given shares but was not even given a receipt for his money. He lodged an entry at the Mirihana police station and though the nefarious individuals behind the scam pleaded that they would return the money that he contributed, he did not agree. But Ravaya returned the money via post.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nagananda Kodituwakku,\u00a0lodged a complaint at the Police Fraud Bureau on the 02nd of July 2015 and also complained to the Registrar of Companies D.N.R. Siriwardena about the same matter.<\/p>\n

On the 6th of July 2015, commenting on the allegations against Victor Ivan pocketing Rs 10 million of Ravaya funds, D.N.R.Siriwardena, the Registrar of Companies told Colombo Telegraph<\/a> that the entire transaction is illegal and completely out of the order and that an investigation is to be launched into the transaction.<\/p>\n

\u2018Indecent\u2019 activists who defended that scam also criticized Colombo Telegraph, calling it \u2018low and uncultured\u2019 when Colombo Telegraph exposed it.\u00a0<\/span>The Colombo Telegraph learns that these are the people who are worried that RTI may be used to expose their deals behind the scenes and embarrass them, including in regard to Victor Ivan\u2019s scam in selling shares even though Ravaya Ltd was a guarantee company. It received monies from NGOs and INGOs.<\/span><\/p>\n

We ask if those sensationalist actions are not \u2018low\u2019 and \u2018uncultured\u2019 on that same yardstick applied by the \u2018indecent\u2019 civil society activist to us?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Related posts;<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Victor Ivan Pocketed Half Of R\u0101vaya\u2019s Rs 10 Million Fund<\/b><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

R\u0101vaya \u2018Staff-Shareholders\u2019 Clueless About Ivan\u2019s Rs 5 Million Heist<\/b><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

I Got Just Rs 1000 For My Share, Says R\u0101vaya Founder Director And Deputy Editor Colambage<\/b><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Sajin Vass\u2019 Restaurant Tip Same As \u2018Hashish\u2019 Ivan\u2019s Salary<\/b><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Ivan Must Return The Bucks He Took: Supporters Including 73 Year Old Pensioner Demand<\/b><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Ivan\u2019s Rs 5 Million Heist Goes To Fraud Bureau<\/b><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Ranil Hits Sixers Off Full-Tosses Bowled By Fraudster<\/b><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

R\u0101vaya Backtracks, Starts Paying Back Swindled Contributors<\/b><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":173101,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-174730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-news","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nInfo DG Claims RTI Commission's Funds Released, But Status Still Unclear\u00a0 - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/info-dg-claims-rti-commissions-funds-released-but-status-still-unclear\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Info DG Claims RTI Commission's Funds Released, But Status Still Unclear\u00a0 - 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