WHILE CELEBRATING Jamaica's progress in facilitating access to information from statutory bodies, Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) president Desmond Richards says there are still "many rivers to cross" to improve transparency in Government.
Speaking at a media round-table discussion, hosted by The Carter Centre on Tuesday, Mr. Richards declared that: "As far as journalism is concerned, I don't think we are yet in an environment where we have open government. There is still a level of secrecy. There is still a tendency among some civil servants where they act as if it is their right to hold back information. There is still a lot of work to be done in sensitising the gatekeeping in the public sector."
OPPRESSIVE LAWS
In his presentation, Richards urged journalists to make full use of the Access to Information Act to develop richer stories. He also lamented the existing libel laws as "oppressive" and said they are often used to "frighten journalists into self-censorship".
"We can't have open government with these oppressive laws. Too few journalists are actively engaged in fighting against these laws. We must exploit the current (political) environment to repeal these oppressive laws," he said.
In the meantime, Richard Calland, executive director of the Open Democracy Advice Centre in South Africa, explained that the Jamaican ATI Act was now at a cross roads. "It can either choose to be a modest performer or rise to the ranks of being a strong example for the region," he explained.
The event, which also facilitated the Access to Information Investigative Journalism Award for tertiary level students, announced Gareth Manning, a final year student at the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication (CARIMAC) and reporter at The Gleaner as the winner. Manning examined the issue of medical malpractice in his winning entry.
The Jamaican Senate passed the country's first Access to Information Bill, the equivalent of the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, in June 2002. The legislation gives citizens and other persons a general legal right of access to official government documents which would otherwise be inaccessible.
The Carter Center makes its exit from Jamaica after a series of events which end this weekend.
