Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter
GOMES
DR. CAROLYN Gomes, chairman of the Access to Information Stakeholders Advisory Committee, yesterday objected to the Bank of Jamaica being given exemption from the provisions of the Access to Information Act.
Yesterday, she told the Joint Select Committee of Parliament reviewing the Act that such a request should not be taken on board.
According to Dr. Gomes, the request, if granted, would indicate preferential treatment to the central bank, which she argued was not the intention of the Act.
She said that, while she agreed the Act already provides for certain documents to remain classified, exempting the activities of the central bank from the public would be an unwise decision.
And Government committee member Senator Trevor Munroe said the current position, as described by Rudolph Muir, deputy governor at the BoJ, was inadequate to meet the requirements of modern democratic governance in respect of the access of the public to information.
ADEQUATE ARGUMENT
"An argument would have to be made that the current position, in relation to information provision, is adequate rather than the other side having to prove that it is inadequate," he said.
Yesterday Mr. Muir made the bank's formal submission to the Joint Select Committee of Parliament.
He said that, because of the sensitive nature of the activities of the central bank, the need arises for protection from the provisions of the ATI Act.
"Our main submission is that the central bank, which is the hub and repository of the country's key economic activities, should be exempted in such a way that what currently obtains under the Bank of Jamaica Act (remains)," he explained.
"That is, information can be released by the permission of the Governor or the Minister of Finance," he added.
Mr. Muir noted that because of these key economic functions, with emphasis on price stability, there are many deliberative processes within the Bank that demand clear protection from the provisions of the ATI Act.
