Campbell, left, and Grange
Vernon Daley, Staff Reporter
TWO INTERNATIONAL legal experts are urging a gradual introduction of the proposed Access to Information Act, arguing that rushing it into being before equipping government agencies and training staff could invite chaos.
Dr. Alasdair Roberts, Director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute, Syracuse University, New York, and Dr. Richard Calland, Executive Chair of the Open Democracy Advice Centre, Cape Town, South Africa, offered the caution on Thursday during a joint presentation to the joint select committee of Parliament studying the Bill.
Dr. Calland drew upon the experience of South Africa, whose Bill was passed in 2000 but only came into effect after a grace period of one year. This was done to give Government agencies the time to put the framework and training programmes in place to facilitate the smooth operation of the legislation. But even this one-year period was still insufficient, he said.
"While it may be frustrating for Government and civil society to delay what is a very important and needed piece of legislation, I would argue that it is better to wait a year or two for something that works than to rush something through that does not work," he added.
Both men flew into the island this week to participate in seminar on the Access to Information Bill and the Corruption Prevention Act. The function was organised by the Media Association of Jamaica (MAJ), the Carter Centre and the Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS).
Their view coincides with the stance of the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party, which has argued that Government should put off implementation of the Bill to allow Government agencies to be properly staffed and equipped to deal with the new regime of openness in Government.
Olivia "Babsy" Grange, the JLP spokesperson on information, told the seminar on Wednesday that a bumpy implementation of the legislation would only result in frustration for Jamaicans. She said many government departments currently did not have simple equipment such as photocopying machines to reproduce documents. She added that government workers, who have operated under a culture of secrecy, would also need to be retrained.
"If rushed to passage without serious consideration being given to preparedness on the part of the administration... the introduction of the Act will create a nightmare in its implementation," she said.
At Thursday's sitting of the joint select committee, Ms. Grange repeated the party's position on the issue.
But Colin Campbell, Information Minister and committee chairman, wants the committee to tie up its work so the Bill can be passed and implemented before the end of the legislative year in March. He said if this was not done, implementation of the legislation, which has been on the cards for a decade now, would continue to drag.
Professor Aggrey Brown, Director of the Institute of Media and Communi-cation, who appeared before the committee yesterday, supported him. Prof. Brown argued that fears about the public agencies being ill-equipped to facilitate the legislation were unfounded. According to him, there was not likely to be a great demand from citizens to get information from Government once the Bill is passed, as there was still a high level of illiteracy among the population. He added that demands from institutions and civic organisations would also not be large enough to overwhelm public agencies.
The Access to Information Bill aims to provide members of the public with the right to information generated and/or held by public authorities and companies as specified in the Bill. It, however, exempts some documents from disclosure such as Cabinet records and Government documents which contain opinions and advice.
