Enact freedom of information law
Saarc journalists' confce ends with the call
UNB, Dhaka
A two-day conference of editors and working journalists of Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries concluded here yesterday with a set of recommendations including a call for member states to enact freedom of information law to ensure a free press.To that end, the meet called for removing barriers to press freedom and upholding freedom of expression and the right to dissent. The 10-point recommendation called for establishing a legal framework to ensure free flow of information within and between the Saarc countries. It also made a strong plea for scrapping all legal restrictions and barriers hindering press freedom in the region. "Freedom of movement by media professionals within Saarc-member countries should be ensured. Visa regime should be relaxed while media professionals should get preferential access to MPs, judges and business leaders of Saarc countries," it said. To ensure easy availability of media products, the recommendation said tariff, non-tariff and para-tariff restrictions on all forms of media materials ought to be removed. Duties on newsprint, printing machinery and rates of electricity and telecommunications may be reduced to facilitate greater public access to information. Steps should also be taken to ensure safety and security of media professionals in discharge of their duties. The conference, first of its kind, called for setting up a training academy for journalists and promoting exchange programmes among news agencies of Saarc-member states. A Saarc media-development fund with seed money of $100,000 under the proposed Saarc Information Centre may be developed according to the agreed formula of contribution by the member states, it said. The 10-point recommendation would be placed for consideration before the meeting of Saarc Information Ministers, scheduled for New Delhi this month. Although delegates from India and Sri Lanka were absent, the conference hoped that the recommendations would get a unanimous nod. Both government and private media representatives from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Pakistan and Nepal and the Saarc Secretariat attended the conference. Information Minister Tariqul Islam inaugurated the conference on Saturday. Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan was chief guest at the closing ceremony yesterday held at Hotel Sheraton.
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