KABUL - The government officials have not been giving information to reporters when contacted, journalists complained on Sunday. A governmental spokesman promised the issue to be regulated with the approval of a law about the access to information. The main challenge for journalists is that government officials are not willing to give information, Zarghona Roshan, a reporter of Salam Watandar Radio said.
"I went to the office of the Attorney General to complete a report about the rights of the children, and there the officials would send me from one department to another and finally I could not get the information that I wanted," she said.

The role of a journalist is like a bridge between government and the people, and the officials should share information with the public through media, still officials do not have the will to do it, Abdul Matin, a reporter of Gurbat TV, said.

He added that most of the time officials at the Ministry of Public Health were not willing to give him interviews.

Media Watch director, Sadiqullah Tawhidi, on the other hand said that although the draft law, regarding the access to information was prepared by civil society organizations and legal entities and sent to the Ministry of Information and Culture six months ago, it was yet to be approved.

The draft enables all journalists to have access to information, which is not restricted by the constitution and the officials were also supposed to cooperate in this regard, he said, adding that those who would refuse to give information without any reason, would be punished according to the regulations.

Information ministry spokesman, Zaryalai Nawabi, had also confirmed the problems of media people regarding the access to information.

The access to information law has to be approved first from the Council of Ministers and then voted in the Parliament. Currently the draft has been discussed in the Council of journalists, which have increased its articles from 24 to 50. Then it would be checked in the Ministry of Justice.

Nawabi said he hoped that the law will resolve the problems of the journalists.