The Tribune

SO it turns out that Freedom of Information is not one of Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis’ top priorities. Forgive us if we are not shocked.

Progress on the matter has gone so slowly that even snails are shocked by the lack of speed.

It is now more than ten years since the Ingraham administration passed a Freedom of Information Act in 2012 and we still do not have the tools to demand of our government proper answers on matters.

That 2012 act had no date for enactment, then the Christie administration tinkered with the legislation but never implemented it. Then came the Minnis administration, who in 2021 made Keith Thompson the first Information Commissioner. In May, he will have been in the post two years – will he have overseen the release of a single piece of information by that anniversary? It seems unlikely to hear Mr Davis say it.

Mr Thompson has said that the Prime Minister’s office and the Attorney General’s office are now responsible for getting the technology his department needs for a pilot programme.

Back in May last year, his first anniversary in the role, he said he anticipated information requests being handled by the end of 2023. That never happened. By that stage in May, the technology needed should have been well in progress, if an end of year deadline was going to be met, we would have thought.

Also back in May last year, training was supposed to begin for information managers, which begs a question – between Mr Thompson’s salary, the cost of offices, the training, the staff, and so on, how much have we spent already? We would make it a freedom of information request, but …

That is not even taking into account the cost of whatever technology has been requested.

Mr Davis said yesterday that he planned for the implementation “within my term of office” – which is a long way from the deadlines that have flown by previously.

He blamed resources, saying: “Priorities require resources, and if I have a choice of putting and getting all those things in place as against doing things to alleviate the strain on my Bahamian people, the strain on my Bahamian people – relief will come first. That is not off our drawing board. Right now, we just have too many challenges amongst our disadvantaged Bahamians that need to pay priority to. That’s my priority right now.”

It is curious, considering how much boasting the government has done about the economy of late, and the soaring tourism figures – but when it comes to freedom of information, we need to think about the strain on the Bahamian people first. Does that apply to the government’s bill for travels around the world too? Are we shelving projects such as a new Parliament to focus on the strain on the Bahamian people?

A government should be able to do more than one thing at a time – there ought to be the capacity to deal with a long-planned freedom of information implementation and address the needs of the less fortunate in our country.

Rather, it looks as if the government is simply not interested in transparency. Put the yet-again-delayed freedom of information implementation next to the concerns over whether the Fiscal Responsibility Council is functioning. Take a look at the lack of progress afforded the Public Accounts Committee. See how we still do not know which lawmakers obeyed the law in making public disclosures on time last year. Time and time again, the tools used to hold our government to account are neglected. Are we supposed to believe that is coincidence?

At least we know where Mr Davis stands. His position is that this is not a priority. No answers for you. Maybe he will get it up and running on his way out of the door. Or maybe not.

Freedom of information is hidden under a cloak of secrecy.