Only 8% of the homes have a computer, and 3% have internet access, according to data from the statistics authority.
Lack of an integral agenda for developing the telecommunications sector (adequate legislation, investment, etc.) is hampering economic development in the country, said Pedro Argumendo, from the Salvadoran Foundation for Social and Economic Development, also known as Fusades.
About 8 Thousand NGOs that manage state funds must provide data on their financial statements.
Next Tuesday, the Law on Free Access to Public Information will come into force and it will force these non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to give information to the citizenry if it is requested.
According to what prensalibre.com published, among these NGOs are "committees, foundations, associations, companies and organizations that manage funds outside the state."
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.
In Costa Rica they are analyzing at the highest judicial level the possibility of restricting the public's right to be informed via the internet about judicial processes and sentences.
An editorial in the January 28 edition of the Nacion daily reveals the intentions of the Full Court in Costa Rica to establish regulations to restrict the publication of personal information contained in judicial process and sentences on the Internet.
Following the adoption in Guatemala of the Law on Public Information Access, El Salvador and Costa Rica are the only ones in the isthmus that lack a similar law.
The Salvadoran Foundation for Economic and Social Development (FUSADES) presented yesterday its draft law on transparency and access to public information.
The proposal includes 113 articles that seek to force all state institutions to deliver public information to all citizens.
The law, which regulates access to information publicly administered information, will come into effect 180 days after it is published.
The regulations guarantee the people the right to request and access government information.
Public information is defined to include: budget reports, deposit of public funds, usufruct concessions and list of works in progress, etc.
Las week the session of Congress introduced a bill called the Access to Public Information Law.
In the midst of the turbulance caused by the transparency scandals in the Legislature, the law could not have arrived at a better time. Now that the deputies are "washing their faces" before the citizens they are starting to approve this initiative.
The Constitution contemplates free access to public information but, typical of public officials, they did not pay attention to citizen requirements, especially those of the national press.
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