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Bahamas Press Club on Freedom of Information Act
By Bahamas Press Club
Mar 12, 2015 - 3:04:48 PM


The Bahamas Press Club 2014 notes with much interest the recent announcements by the Minister of Education, Science and Technology the Hon. Jerome Fitzgerald, on the progress of efforts to present a Freedom of Information Bill to Parliament.

However, while those efforts are commendable, we impress upon the Government the urgency of passing such a bill into law, thereby demonstrating to the Bahamian people a commitment to transparency and accountability.

The previous administration (FNM) passed a Freedom of Information Act in 2012, but it was never enacted. According to Minister Fitzgerald, that Act requires close to 100 amendments and so a committee was formed in 2014 to recommend changes or to produce a new Bill.

While we are not privy to the work of the committee, and while we commend the Government for putting together such a qualified group, we simply say to the Government and to the committee, “the time has long passed for an Act to allow the public access to information, and it may be prudent to create a new act sooner rather than later, in order to further the growth of a healthy democracy”.

We do not believe that it should take another two years to do that!

As always, the Press Club insists that freedom of information and a free press are critical to the preservation and deepening of our democracy.

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