In his letter addressed to the Belgrade Institute for Public Health, the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection requested from this Institute to publish complete results of the analysis of water in Belgrade water supply system for all water safety parameters.

The Commissioner urged all similar institutions in the country, particularly those in charge of areas particularly affected by the disastrous floods, to do the same,to the extent possible under the circumstances.

In that regard, Commissioner RodoljubSabic also said the following:

"From 23 May until today, a number of citizens contacted me to ask for assistance in access to information on the results of the analysis of water in Belgrade water supply system. I have information that many of them also contacted the Institute for Public Health of Serbia "Dr. Milan JovanovicBatut", the public utility company Belgrade Waterworks and Sewerage and the Belgrade Institute for Public Health.

The Commissioner does not provide information or obtain it from other authorities, he provides assistance in obtaining the necessary information according to the procedure specified by the law. The Commissioner can only act if the following legal, formal requirements aremet: if a requester first filed a request in accordance with this law to the public authority that holds the information; if the authority failed to act on request within the specified time limit or rejected the request; and if the requester lodged an appeal with the Commissioner against this.

We should always try to prevent or avoid unnecessary red tape and waste of time, particularly in cases when it is relatively easy to satisfy the evidently increased interest of the public. This is why I requested from the Belgrade Institute for Public Health to post on its official Internet presentation, and possibly also to publish by other means, the results of the analysis of water in Belgrade water supply system for all water safety parameters.

The Law on Free Access to Information emphasizes special importance of information "which can be assumed to be important for population health and environmental protection". Interest of the citizens and the public for such information in any situation, particularly in emergencies, is absolutely legitimate and public authorities have the duty to provide such information in the most efficient and effectivemanner.

I think that both the Institute and all similar authorities should make additional efforts to provide complete and updated information to the public, particularly as long as the actual and psychological consequences of the disastrous flood persist."