Will Jagdeo keep his word this time?

Sep 01, 2010 Editorial

More than one year after he promised that the Freedom of Information legislation would be in place and way beyond the deadline he set, President Bharrat Jagdeo is once more promising that the legislation would be enacted. He has said that the legislation would be in place this year.
One has no reason to doubt the Head of State, although on numerous occasions he promised certain things but failed to deliver.
This bit of legislation was enacted in the United States in 1966, the year Guyana became independent. The architects posited that the public had a right to obtain information from federal government agencies. And in that country the legislation was not confined to Americans. Any person can file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, including U.S. citizens, foreign nationals, organizations, associations, and universities.
There is no federal government in Guyana because the state is the all-prevailing entity. It supersedes every other government in the land. Up until a few years ago, no one in Guyana saw the need for such a piece of legislation because they could access whatever information they needed from government sources. Indeed, there were times when the seeker had to use subterfuge because Governments are notorious when it comes to divulging information about their activities and business.
Today, more than ever, people say that they need to know how their money is being spent. They need to know how the government arrived at decisions that could affect their lives. Sadly, those answers are never forthcoming. Government officials convey the impression that they have carte blanche to refuse to account to the people who elected them.
How can one explain Prime Minister Samuel Hinds’s answer to a question posed to him in the National Assembly about the criteria for issuing diplomatic passports? Quite blandly, the Prime Minister said that it is a state secret.
The legislation in certain countries protects the dissemination of sensitive information—information that would threaten national security. One needs to be wary that the government does not extend its security consideration to every facet of national life.
When the government entered into an agreement to construct the Berbice River Bridge, they all conspired to institute a clause that prevented disclosures of things like the rate of return on investment, and the volume of revenue collected. One can only hope that these are not considered national security issues.
The United States allows application to Executive Branch departments, agencies, and offices; federal regulatory agencies; and federal corporations. Records obtainable under the FOIA include all “agency records” – such as print documents, photographs, videos, maps, e-mail and electronic records – that were created or obtained by a Federal agency and are, at the time the request is filed, in that agency’s possession and control.
Jamaica has a similar clause and it allowed the Jamaica Gleaner access to e-mail between the government and a lobbying firm on the extradition of now extradited Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, a Jamaican drug kingpin.
Agencies can refuse but there are appeals. One must hope that the legislation, which according to President Bharrat Jagdeo will be enacted this year, would facilitate such appeals. One does not want to prejudge the issue by saying that the courts, already overwhelmed with unheard cases, would be called on to rule on these appeals and that they could take forever. There must be other agencies.
It is unfortunate that the proposed legislation has not been circulated for comment. This bit of legislation is critical to the life of the media in Guyana and one would have expected that the framers would have consulted the media. Perhaps that is expecting too much.
It has been the same with the Broadcast Legislation which has been nearly fifteen years in the making. Every consultation and proposal seemed to anger the government. The proposals by the media were deemed contentious.
With its Parliamentary majority, even if the FOI legislation fails to find favour with the wider society, the ruling party could foist it on the nation.
But then again, one should not count one’s chickens before they are hatched. Perhaps the government is keen to act in good faith. It is strange, though, that the announcement of the impending legislation came on the same day that a sister newspaper editorialized on the issue.

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