The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

A LOCAL civic group has commended the Democratic National Alliance for its effort to draft a Right to Information document, but told The Tribune there are still “a lot of deficiencies” to be overcome if it is to be adapted and legislated.

Policy Chairman for the Citizens for a Better Bahamas (CBB) organisation, Lamarque Campbell, compared the contents of the DNA’s draft document to that of the draft Freedom of Information Bill, 2015, put forward by the Progressive Liberal Party.

Calling it an improvement over all versions of the documents offered in the past by political parties, Mr Campbell praised the DNA for its foresight in calling for a reduction in the time a record is exempted; appointment of an Information Commissioner by the Governor General on advisement by the Leader of the Opposition; and its changes to legal privileges and publication of information by public authorities.

The DNA’s document calls for full access to all documents that are made available as a part of Cabinet deliberations. The party’s Deputy Leader Chris Mortimer believes this element of their legislation would negate the potential for government “secret deals”.

Addressing these proclaimed strengths, Mr Campbell said the reduction of the time frame for exempt documents was “significant”, adding that the revised appointment scheme for the Information Commissioner “essentially” eliminated a “political appointee for the government”.

However, reflecting on the deficiencies of the document, Mr Campbell admitted that he would have to take a swipe at the DNA’s appointment scheme, insisting that a completely independent Information Commissioner would serve a better purpose.

He claimed: “We need an independent Information Commissioner to oversee the enforcement of any transparency law in The Bahamas, so I would go further in recommending that civil society representatives be involved in the appointment process.”

Further deficiencies in the DNA’s document, according to Mr Campbell, include the definition of public authority in the Right To Information Act (RTIA) remains limited to a government ministry, department, statutory body, or company in which the government holds more that 50 per cent of the shares.

Mr Campbell said the move was problematic because it limits the public’s right to information from powerful non-statutory bodies that approve major development projects in the Bahamas, such as the Bahamas Investment Authority, the National Economic Council and the Bahamas Environment Science and Technology (BEST) Commission.

He said a strong Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) should also include private organisations that operate with substantial public funds and perform public functions and services.

Mr Campbell said: “Therefore, I would recommend that we should look at Acts such as the Antigua and Barbuda FOI Act, 2004, which takes a wide approach in defining a public authority as a body owned, controlled or substantially financed by the government from public funds.”

He continued: “Secondly, there is still an inordinate amount of time in which a public authority has to respond to a request for information. Under the RTIA a public authority will have up to 30 days to respond to an application and could extend it for an additional 30 days for good cause, which isn’t defined in the draft.

“So essentially it could take an individual up to 60 days to get information from the government. We live in a digital age, where it should not be taking 60 days to receive pertinent information from the government.”

Widening his discussion on the status of FOIA in The Bahamas, Mr Campbell said since the Freedom of Information Act, 2012 was passed by the Free National Movement government, the Progressive Liberal Party government circulated the draft of its Freedom of Information Bill, 2015, and now the DNA party has circulated their draft Right to Information Act, 2017.

He insisted that with these three proposed transparency laws in The Bahamas, it is worth noting that there is a trend in which each draft is an improvement to its precursor.

“If this trend continues then the next draft, which is due to be tabled before the end of the year, should be the best one thus far,” he said.

Mr Campbell added: “It is great to see that each draft FOI Bill circulated is an improvement to previous ones. However, the real issue is the time in which it is actually taking to enact a strong Freedom of Information Act here in The Bahamas.”

“There hasn’t been the political will to do so. The constant delays in enacting a FOIA translates to a delay in empowering citizens, reducing corruption and mismanagement, and increasing accountability.”

The CBB is one of several civic organisations that have remained intent on advocating the passage of a FOIA.

Earlier this month, officials with the CBB, along with Executive Director of the Organisation for Responsible Governance Matt Albury; President of the Bahamas Bar Association Elsworth Johnson and Chairman for Citizens for Justice Bishop Walter Hanchell held the first in a series of town hall meetings geared toward advancing discourse on the FOIA.

Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald has indicated that the Christie administration would seek to table the document before the end of 2016.