-
by pltm
(PLTM) - A further promise of tabling Freedom of Information (FoI) legislation has made it into the Government’s agenda for the House of Assembly (HoA).
In the Speech from the Throne which outlines the Virgin Islands Party’s legislative agenda and delivered by Governor John Rankin, the FoI law was listed among laws that legislators hope to table during this session of the HoA.
“The Freedom of Information Act will be introduced to govern the public's access to information held by public authorities,” said Governor Rankin as he read from the prepared speech by the Government on Tuesday, January 18.
Like his predecessors, Governor Rankin has highlighted the need for the FoI law. In a position paper provided last year to the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) investigating allegations of public corruption, Governor Rankin pressed for the FoI Act. “A Freedom of Information Act, to ensure the public has the right to access Government information,” Governor Rankin stated as one of the items to improve the system of Governance in the Territory.
It has been nearly two decades of promises from successive Governments in the face of repeated calls from United Kingdom-appointed Governors to pass the FoI law to improve transparency in Government.
Public consultations on a proposed FoI legislation were completed by the Law Reform Commission and report submitted to Government in 2004, one year after the National Democratic Party (NDP) was elected to power.
After the VIP regained power in 2007, the legislation was also promised. When NDP returned to office in 2011, for eight years they once again promised to focus on passing an FoI law.
However, by 2018, one year prior to the NDP being voted out of office, then Premier Dr. D. Orlando Smith is on record of stating that the BVI had freedom of information since information ‘gets out there’.
-----
Copyright 2023 by Virgin Islands Platinum News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
