Jakarta – State enterprises will be required to disclose their financial reports and information about goods and services procurement to the public under new freedom of information laws.
This obligation forms part of the freedom of information bill the House of Representatives is set to pass Thursday. The bill states all information classified as "public" must be made accessible.
Arief Mudatsir, head of the House's special committee deliberating the bill, said Monday the bill obliged public institutions, including state enterprises, to provide public access to 14 kinds of information.
Among these are information on procurement, financial reports, executive replacement, share ownership and corporate social responsibility programs. Failure to comply with the transparency principle carries a maximum fine of Rp 5 million (US$546) or up to one year in prison.
The issue of public access to information for state-owned companies had stalled debate of the bill because the government insisted state enterprises were not public institutions.
The draft law does not specifically state national flag companies are public institutions. However, Arief said the general definition of public institution in the bill would include state-owned companies.
"We define a public institution as any institution that provides public services and is funded by the state budget, public funds or foreign aid," Arief said. "This definition includes state-owned enterprises."
Under this definition, the government, legislature, political parties and nongovernmental organizations will also be classified as public institutions.
The bill does not stipulate what information state enterprises may keep from the public. Arief said this might lead to disputes when the public requested information outside the 14 categories regulated in the bill.
"Such disputes can be settled by the Information Commission," said Arief. The commission, which the bill establishes, will comprise seven members at the national level and five members for each province.
Andreas Pareira, another member of the House's special team, said the House and the government had included an article dealing with sanctions. In the earlier draft, the bill imposed sanctions on anyone misusing the requested information, which Andreas said was too vague.
In the final draft, sanctions are imposed only on those who use public information for illegal purposes. The offense attracts a maximum Rp 30 million fine or five years in prison.
Agus Sudibyo of the Science, Esthetics and Technology Foundation questioned the article imposing sanctions. "It's unusual for legislation to stipulate sanctions. This legislation regulates access to information, not how that information is used," he said.
Agus expressed concern the provision would overlap with punishments for public information users. "Even without this legislation, any act that violates any regulation will be punished," he said.
The bill will come into effect two years after its endorsement by the House, giving the House and the government time to establish the Information Commission and formulate four supporting regulations. (alf)