Government should soon start conducting research into how well freedom of information legislation is working in the region.
After addressing the Barbados Association of Journalists & Media Workers’ (BARJAM) annual general meeting at the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), The Pine, St Michael, on Saturday night, Minister of Home Affairs and Information Gregory Nicholls made it clear there was no Freedom of Information Bill before Parliament, but his intention was for preliminary work to begin looking at countries which had passed such laws.
“I’ve asked the ministry to conduct some wider research on freedom of information legislation and to compare how it has been implemented and what have been the results in relation to how the public in some Caribbean countries have been dealing with it. So that research is being conducted, and when that is done, I intend to engage with the Cabinet on all these matters,” he said.
Some of the countries in the region that have passed such legislation include Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, the British Virgin Islands, The Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, and the Cayman Islands, with varying levels of success.
BARJAM has been vocal in calling for a Freedom of Information Act to be enacted in Barbados for years, including current president Ryan Broome, who again made the call during World Press Freedom Day in May. He said such legislation was essential to strengthening transparency and accountability across public institutions.
The minister said he could not commit to a timetable for Barbados, as this was in its very early stages, adding there was much more to consider than many might think.
“I’m not only looking at the legislation, but I’m also looking at how the legislation has been implemented, because there is a process. You just don’t pass an Act and say, this is the law. It has to be something that society accepts as the standard that we will all operate by. Because today you might be a citizen, but tomorrow you might be, by way of election or appointment, involved in public administration, and then you have to operate by standards that you didn’t contemplate when you were a private citizen. So we need to make sure we draw the balance, but we need to have that discussion.
“How do we access the information? Time frames, all these things. What are the penalties for when the information is not given, such as information that is time-sensitive or information that is confidential? What is the time period for the information to be released? Who is responsible for redacting sensitive information? Who draws the line? Those are things that we have to settle.”
He added: “As I said, there is a discussion that we need to have, but it’s not something that we are prepared to rush into, because we need to make sure we get it right.”
Nicholls said he intended to table several proposals to Cabinet, one of which was “repealing and reforming” the Broadcasting Authority Act with a view to modernising it.
He pointed out the idea was not only to focus on broadcast and print media, but the entirety of content creation, as the various available platforms had to be regulated into a new regime.
He said he was pleased with the way the Barbados Government Information Service and CBC were operating, while lamenting the closure of legacy publisher The Barbados Advocate, adding Government would continue to be committed to journalism in Barbados and looked forward to continued interactions with BARJAM. (CA)