Penang State Assembly. -filepic
GEORGE TOWN: A lineup comprising mostly of lawyers will now head the Penang Appeals Board after a motion was passed in the Penang State Assembly to appoint the board comprising of six members which falls under the Penang Freedom of Information Enactment 2010 [Enactment 16].
The Appeals Board caters to those whose application for information has been rejected while the enactment provides disclosure of information for public interest and their right to access the information from every department in the state government and any other matters connected to it.
The motion was presented by Deputy Chief Minister II Jagdeep Singh Deo on Thursday (May 30) and met with a unanimous decision before the state assembly sitting which began on May 24, adjourned sine die.
He said the term for the board would be three years.
"The term will begin on June 1 this year (2024) to May 31, 2027.
"The board will comprise of mostly lawyers headed by Datuk Baldev Singh Gurchan Singh as the chairman with Datuk Abdul Fareed Abdul Gafoor as the deputy.
"The four board members are Harinder Singh Malkit Singh, Carolyn Oh, Datuk Nagarethinam Rengasamy Pillay and Regina Amalorpava Mary Aboorvasamy," he said at the state assembly sitting held at its building in Light Street here.
There are four lawyers, one developer and one former judge out of the six to be appointed.
Speaker Datuk Law Choo Kiang, when approving the motion, said the board members would serve a three-year term after there was a unanimous vote agreeing with the motion.
Any applicant aggrieved by the decision (rejection) may appeal against it to this board.
The Penang State Assembly sitting which began on May 24, has been adjourned sine die.
