State officials do not own the information they manage, and when that information has not been legally declared as reserved, they must ensure its availability to the public.
EDITORIAL
And 'availability´means that public institutions must have all the doors to obtain it wide open, both administratively and technically.
State officials often create administrative barriers to free access to public information, in the form of lengthy bureaucratic processes, including sometimes filling out forms that include insidious questions about what the information will be used for.
Many of the officials working in Central American governments are annoyed at the idea of the information they handle being accessible to citizens, and one way or another, they are impeding its availability.
EDITORIAL
"- Send a letter to Mrs Fulana, the person in charge of authorizing the release of information you have requested, stating the reasons for your request".
The private sector in Costa Rica is having doubts over the ability of the Treasury to prevent information leaks, if approval is given to a requirement for companies to disclose shareholder information.
The business sector fears that the authorities will not be able to control possible leaks of confidential data which companies must provide if the decree proposed by the Directorate General of Taxation is approved.
Production of Panamanian macroeconomic information is subject to delays, affecting the decision-making capability of businesses.
Currently the production of the information is the responsibility of the National Comptroller's Office, which does not have sufficient resources to cope.
Edith Catillo Durate, in her article for Prensa.com, writes that, “Macroeconomic information is currently available up to May although some segments are subject to longer delays”.
The Government of Panama inaugurated the Public Administration Transparency Module, on the web site of the National Customs Authority.
The commissioning of this new tools will allow Panamanians or foreigners to review the information contained in the import and export declarations, without the need for a password.
The Director of the National Customs Authority, Vilma De Luca, said that the tool will promote competition and benefit all Panamanians, who are the consumers, and will help in the supervision of correct customs declaration of the goods.