Albania’s public institutions met their obligations to give public information on request in only 42 per cent of the cases, according to a study by the nongovernmental organization Mjaft, as described in a Balkan Insight article.
“We sent out 230 requests for information, 80 for central institutions, 137 for local ones and 13 for justice institutions and public universities. We got only 98 replies,” said Aldo Merkoci, of Mjaft Movement.
Only 80 of the replies had the required information. In 18 cases what was sent back was incomplete.
The information requests were made over issues related to draft laws, institutional budgeting procedures and the criteria followed when hiring staffers.
The report especially criticized Albanian municipalities. Of the 61 municipalities, only 30 have appointed a coordinator on the right to information, an obligation contained in the right to information law adopted in 2014.
“Some municipalities didn’t have even an internet page where we could submit requests for information. In other cases, those who were appointed to do the job of coordinator didn’t have the least idea how to handle it,” Merkoci told Balkan Insight.
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