In NRC says Van Hoek (65), who recently retired, how large parts of the government think about Wob requests and transparency.
Citizens can request internal information from the government, such as reports, letters or minutes of meetings, via a Wob request (Public Access Act). Journalists in particular make use of the scheme. Since this year, the law has been transformed into the Open Government Act (Woo).
a lot of resistance
There is a lot of resistance among police units to the publication of documents, but ministries or municipalities also prefer not to cooperate. There was even talk during meetings about the ‘losing’ of sensitive documents.
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RTL Nieuws also submits Wob requests. In 2018, this happened to various ministries and the police with questions about the MH17 disaster. According to Van Hoek, it was clear that documents had not been provided. A top official from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management said during a meeting that ‘we should not look for more documents’. “This remains everything,” he said, according to Van Hoek.
‘Too burdensome’
Documents were also deliberately withheld in another Wob request from RTL. This time it was about the bonfires in Scheveningen that got out of hand. The municipality did not want to provide any documents, but afterwards it turned out that the documents were too incriminating for the then mayor Pauline Krikke.
It is not new that the government is keeping important documents secret or slow in providing them. In January last year, RTL Nieuws did itself Extensive research to Wob requests. It turned out that, among other things, the government was late in responding to more than two thirds of the requests. In doing so, she broke her own rules.
‘Information on the move’
The national government was not only late – when it finally provided the requested documents, it was incorrect and incomplete in 58 percent of the cases.
Prime Minister Rutte promised at the beginning of 2021 that ‘the information provision to the House of Representatives and journalists will be fundamentally overhauled’.
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Reaction Ilse Openneer, editor-in-chief RTL Nieuws
“The NRC article mentions two examples of Wob requests from RTL Nieuws. In those examples, NRC writes that information is not provided to journalists, while that information is or appears to be there. According to citizens and journalists the law is entitled to. It is staggering to read, and inadmissible. Public administration comes with accountability.”
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