Legislation needed to compel Govt., Commissioner to provide public with information – APNU

May 30, 2026 News

---

…says there must be consequences for failing to provide timely responses

(Kaieteur News) – During the debate of the country’s largest budget on record, Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Opposition benches were promised that government would “lay it over”.  However, months have passed since hundreds of millions were allocated for spending without the public being provided with key details regarding the use of large chunks of revenue.

Beyond the walls of the National Assembly, citizens are confronted with a non-functioning Commissioner of Information, Charles Ramson (senior) that often utilises loopholes in the Access to Information Act to avoid providing the nation with information requested.

These concerns were ventilated by the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) which flagged the growing need for legislation to compel government and the Commissioner of Information to provide the public with details they request.

Member of Parliament (MP), Saiku Andrews during a party press conference on Friday told reporters that legal changes could ensure changes to the current blackout on information that grips the country.

He said, “I think we need to move beyond access to information and move to a right to information where every citizen of our country has a right and that the law dictates that within a certain time, a certain scope of information must be provided to the citizenry upon their request and if it is not done, then a consequence must follow.”

Andrews suggested that this would not only hold the Commissioner of Information to account but the government, especially in Parliament when questions are raised and not addressed timely.

“They would understand there is a consequence to not providing this information,” the politician added.

Andrews joined MPs Ganesh Mahipaul and Juretha Fernandes in underscoring that questions raised during the budget process are still unanswered.

In remarks, Fernandes first pointed out that government is hindering the public’s access to information. She was keen to point out that questions are often submitted to Parliament but addressed one year later.

Scheduled Parliamentary Sittings

She laid out what appeared to be a tactful move by the administration in limiting Sittings of the National Assembly. Fernandes noted that any country that wants good governance adhere to best practices. She explained that taxpayers usually fund trainings and other events for MPs to travel and exchange views on those best practices. According to her, “The best practices when it comes to Parliament meeting is Parliament meeting on a scheduled basis. We have Parliaments that sets a schedule in December of every year for the entire year ahead so you know beforehand when there will be Parliamentary sittings.”

She pointed out that these discussions are often attended by the “less weighty” MPs from the government benches to merely tick boxes, while the “real decision-makers” simply do not show up to discussions geared at improving these systems.

Consequently, Fernandes urged, “We need to have a system in place where the Opposition is not waiting and guessing and hoping that Parliament is going to meet. We need to be setting a Parliamentary schedule or Parliamentary agenda not just for the members of the Opposition but it should be known for the country altogether.”

She contends that this modification would allow for a more predictable schedule on when questions can be posed, and the expected time for those issues to be addressed.

The MP explained, “Even when we do submit questions to the Speaker of the National Assembly, we’ve spoken repeated times about the way in which those questions are handled. In the last Parliament, we submitted questions and when we wrote months after asking why isn’t the minister giving a response, the Speaker responded or the Speaker through the Clerk to say that they cannot give directives to the minister to say when they should respond to questions.”

These challenges according to the opposition member persist but the government does as it sees fit, with even a one-seat majority in the House.

Fernandes said changes were definitely needed to ensure questions are addressed in a timelier manner in Parliament.

She said, “We must have changes. In any democracy and any democracy that intends to be improving over time, you must have changes…I asked questions even in February when we were dealing with the (budget) when we were in the Committee of Supplies looking at the budget. I asked questions in which ministers said that they were going to provide the answers at a later date, they were gonna have those information available, I am yet to receive any information from anyone. I am yet to receive any information.”

Furthermore, she argued that while the administration “parades” itself as a “good government” the Opposition and country is left in the dark. “They have zero transparency, zero accountability and according to every statistical data out there, they are more corrupt than ever before,” the MP contended.

---

• access to information act, APNU, Charles Ramson, information, legislation

---