BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - PRACTICING journalists in St. Kitts and Nevis will look with envy at their Guyanese counterparts as the Bill they have all been asking for is due to be tabled in Guyana this month.
Journalists in St. Kitts and Nevis are often heard venting their frustration when they are unable to access information from Reports of Commissions of Inquiry or when they are unable to gain access to or information from government officials.
The CARICOM News Network reported on Friday, June 3, 2011 that “Ministers have approved a long-awaited Freedom of Information bill which is to be tabled in the Guyana National Assembly in a fortnight”.
The Network states that the bill “obliges the government to retain documents and prohibits officials from destroying or hiding information that is required or requested...but the new legislation would also require the recipient of government documents to publish them accurately and in their entirety”.
Calls for documents by journalists in this Federation have intensified recently.
Reports are still pending on enquiries over the collapse of the bridge on the West By-pass road which resulted in the death of a worker and disability of another.
Generally, the public hears of the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry but the findings of this enquiry are rarely divulged.
Additionally, calls have come from Opposition members in the National Assembly for reports from Statutory Boards and calls have come from the general public for financial reports of National Festivities like Carnival and the Music Festival.
Both Trinidad and Tobago and Antigua and Barbuda have already passed such a Bill, using the draft provided by the Commonwealth as a base for their legislation.
Journalists in St. Kitts and Nevis hope that now that Guyana, after a four-year delay, is actively pursuing the passage of their Bill, St. Kitts Nevis will not be far behind.
