TRAINING FOR public sector workers on the provisions of the Access to Information Act which was passed in June, 2002, will begin on Tuesday, January 21 and will run until the end of May.
During this time, some 400 workers will be trained in what is considered the first phase of the exercise, according to Diane Young of the Access to Information (ATI) Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister.
She told The Gleaner yesterday that the launch, which will be held at the Management Institute of National Development (MIND), will be addressed by Dr. Carlton Davis, Cabinet Secretary; Aylair Livingstone, head of the ATI Unit; and Oliver Clarke, President of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ).
According to the ATI Unit, the first group of trainees will be drawn from the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Finance.
"This process of formal training of public sector workers seeks to prepare them to handle requests for government information effectively and efficiently," a news release from the department said.
It said training was also aimed at preparing government employees to meet the general information needs of the public.
The various departments will also be provided with the equipment necessary to deal with the new regime of openness which the legislation will create.
Trainees will initially be exposed to the fundamentals of change management, the ATI legislation and records/information management.
Representatives of civil society will address the trainees at the beginning of each training week. This is with a view to increasing the participants' awareness of the expectations of the public.
Training of public sector workers is crucial since the Act is expected to become operational during the course of this year.
It seeks to promote accountability, transparency and increased public participation in government by giving members of the public a general right of access to official documents in the possession of government bodies.
The ATI unit which was established last July, is charged with a mandate to spearhead and guide implementation and administration of the Act.
With the passing into law of the Access to Information Act, Jamaicans, for the first time since Independence in 1962, now have access to some Cabinet documents that were previously off
limits.
