The Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill is still languishing in the National Assembly two years after it was first tabled as a private member’s bill by then PNCR MP Raphael Trotman.
Meanwhile, Freedom of Information and other media laws are on the agenda of the Annual Caribbean Media and Communication Conference set for May 1 to 3 in Georgetown.
The conference will coincide with World Press Freedom Day on May 3.
Trotman tabled the bill in May 2006 prior to the general and regional elections in August 2006 and then again as an AFC MP in November 2006. Since then the FOI Bill has been appearing on the parliamentary order paper though it has not come up for debate.
When Stabroek News asked Trotman why the FOI had not been debated he said he’d like a general consensus on it before it is debated and he’d like parliament to pass the bill.
Trotman said currently all opposition political parties have agreed to support the FOI in principle but the PPP/C was still withholding its support. “I was hoping there would have been consensus on the bill because the PPP/C in their campaign manifesto has spoken about access to information legislation,” he said.
Trotman said too he has sought the support of PPP General Secretary Donald Ramotar and others but nothing has been done or said since.
A week ago Stabroek News learnt that the bill was not discussed at the level of the party’s leadership. Last November one party official had told this newspaper that in addition to the party discussing the issue and taking a position, it also has to be discussed and find favour with the Office of the President, as distinct from the party, before the PPP/C could offer its support in parliament.
Yet another PPP official said that compared to the FOI laws found in Canada and the UK the proposed laws for Guyana based on a model from India were deficient. That official said that the AFC needed to talk to the PPP about its intentions as politicians should not lobby in the media and the PPP does not conduct its business in the media.
However, Trotman said prior to that he had written to Ramotar seeking his support in any format and subsequently he met with him on the issue but he has had no positive response.
In the meantime, Trotman said he is concerned that the local media organization, the Guyana Press Association (GPA) has not taken up the issue.
He said the AFC was prepared to work with the GPA in sensitizing media workers and the public on the importance of freedom of information laws. Trotman added that former US President Jimmy Carter’s suggestion that every country should pass a freedom of information law to promote transparency, help fight corruption and ensure clean elections was most welcome.
In a recent interview with Reuters Carter, who heads The Carter Center, said in its efforts to promote freedom and democracy around the world the Center has found that one of the main ways to preserve a democracy once it was established “is to ensure that people have confidence in their own government… If the government is secretive and deprives the people of a right to know what’s going on… then this alienates people and endangers the life of the democracy.”
According to Reuters the Center is soon to release a manifesto on freedom of information based on a conference it held last week aimed at encouraging governments and organisations like the Word Bank and the European Union to adopt its principles.
