From:TheBahamasWeekly.com
McCartney: NIA = No Information Available
By Branville McCartney, Leader, Democratic National Alliance (DNA)
Feb 21, 2015 - 12:14:34 PM
The development and furtherance of our
democracy will mean greater levels of accountability, transparency and
responsibility in governance. So far, successive administrations have only paid
lip service to this idea, promising more access to key information while doing
their endeavor best to keep the electorate in the dark.
While Bahamians have been left to wonder
about key national issues, this government and government’s abroad have been
prying into the daily lives of our citizens. While it has faded from public
consciousness, the allegation is NSA phone tapping in the Bahamas was, and is,
a clear breach of privacy at the highest levels. Following that revelation last
year, government officials promised to get answers on behalf of the country. And
more importantly, whether this administration or the previous one gave
permission to US Officials to invade the private lives of Bahamians. Unfortunately,
this administration has done nothing to advance the future protections of our
personal information nor have they gotten a satisfactory answer from US
officials regarding that intrusion.
Even
as this atrocity goes unanswered, this Christie administration has seemingly
undertaken its own invasion of privacy on, and at the expense of the Bahamian
people. In 2014 reports of the National
Intelligence Agency grabbed (NIA) headlines across the country leading the
local media on the hunt for the agency’s location in New Providence; a location
which is believed to house an arm of law enforcement dedicated to keeping track
of average every day citizens and residents; reading our private e-mails,
scouring through our private text messages and listening to every phone call,
all in search of potential threats to the country’s national security.
In its 2012
Charter for Governance the Christie administration committed itself to the
formation of the NIA to “address all categories of major breaches/crime in our
jurisdiction.” In pitching the idea of this CIA-like security agency,
government officials proposed that the new body would be comprised of members
from every branch of law enforcement in the country. Its mission: to protect
our borders, aid in the reduction of crime, and help “maintain safety and
peace”.
More
than 2 ½ years after coming to office however, the government has offered no
definitive statements on the NIA, which by all reports has been operating
illegally, and on money from the public purse.
As has been their MO, the government in
this matter put the cart before the horse, establishing and funding the agency
before even bringing the legislation that would govern it. Now several months
after the organization allegedly began functioning, the funds allocated in the
government’s budget for the NIA have yet to be accounted for and the public
remains in the dark. The PM’s recent budget communication again failed to
address the matter.
The absence of facts, leave room for countless questions. For example,
does each individual or registered voter have a personal file in the NIA? Just
how much data has been collected on these individuals? Are some persons more
closely monitored than others? What criteria does the NIA use to categorize
criminals? By NIA standards what is the definition of criminal behavior? And
how much is this organization costing taxpayers in terms of salaries, equipment
and utilities?
The time has come
for this government to come clean. In the face of growing public mistrust of
the government and its systems, this administration must stop allowing for
inferences and speculation to take the place of the truth. The government still
has a chance to correct the misinformation that exists by simply putting out
the facts.
Branville McCartney
DNA Leader
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