International Freedom of Access to Information Day: Epidemic slows down institutions, shifts in transparency insufficient

COVID-19 slowed down the work of institutions, so they waited for access to certain information for more than five months, while it was impossible to access information on the conditions under which donated medical care is stored.

Banja Luka, 28. September 2020 – On the occasion of the International Day of Freedom of Access to Information, Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH) presented the results of a survey on the transparency of public institutions and public enterprises, as well as an assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on access to information of public importance. The findings show that progress has been made in accessing information held by public institutions and public enterprises (information on the composition of management bodies with compensation amounts, number of employees, financial reports with annexes, external audit reports, budget amounts, etc.) compared to previous years. research, but that they are insufficient. This year, slightly less than half of public companies (44.5%) submitted answers to the requested information within the legal deadline of 15 days, which is a similar result as in previous years. In the first year of the survey alone (2016), only one third of public companies submitted answers within the legal deadline. TI BiH was forced to file complaints due to the silence of the administration, or complete disregard for requests, against just over 100 of the 737 public institutions.

At the same time, the COVID-19 epidemic slowed down the work of institutions, so it took more than five months to access certain information, while it was impossible to access information on the conditions under which donated medical care is stored. TI BiH did not gain access to information on the conditions under which and in what way the company Krajinagroup doo Banja Luka was engaged, which first offered its premises free of charge for the storage of donated medical care and finally at the suggestion of the RS Ministry of Health on payment of rent in the monthly amount of 21,500 KM. In the same way, TI BIH could not access information on the procurement of respirators in the Federation of BiH, because the Federal Civil Protection Administration stated in its response that all documentation related to this procurement was excluded 5. May this year by SIPA and the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH. TI’s global findings show that unhindered access to information of public importance is key to gaining citizens’ trust in health authorities. Where the authorities were not transparent under the circumstances of the epidemic. there is also the greatest resistance of citizens to respecting health recommendations which reduce the spread of the infection.

TI BiH takes the opportunity to remind the authorities and citizens on the International Day of Freedom of Information that the fight against corruption and participation in democratic processes is unthinkable if the authorities do not share information about their work with the general public. TI BiH proposes that all laws on freedom of access to information in Bosnia and Herzegovina finally provide for provisions that oblige public authorities to proactively publish most of the information in their possession. In this way, public inquiries will be reduced, the work of public administration will be rationalized and transparency and efficiency in work will be increased.

Press rls 9/28/2020