After 3 months, HOA documents still not public

“It’s public information: You should have gotten it. I can’t believe that they refused to give it,” he said, adding, “We had a hard time getting the information ourselves.”

HOA information

Legislators typically answer questions from the opposition orally during HOA sittings, but ministers instead submitted sev- eral answers in writing during the last three sittings in February and March.

Information given non-ver- bally included a spreadsheet of outstanding loans for the government; a list of all consultants engaged with the Ministry of Health and Social Development and the Ministry of Communications and Works; a copy of the Social Security Board’s letter stating the terms of the $16 million it loaned to the government for road repairs; and dozens of other documents and appendices. (See sidebar posted at the end of this article.)

After the HOA’s third sitting in February, the Beacon requested the answers that had been submit- ted non-verbally, but was told that since the documents had not been laid on the table or read aloud in the House, the HOA is not re- quired by law to furnish them to the public.

Requests to government were also unsuccessful. Communications Director Arliene Penn directed inquires to the HOA, and Premier Dr. Orlando Smith did not respond to a February letter on the matter other than to acknowledge receipt.

Some answers received 

However, HOA officials did send some of the non-verbal answers on an ad hoc basis.

For example, Mr. Leonard provided a list of contracts and purchase orders for the new technical school, which had been submitted by Education and Culture Minister Myron Walwyn in response to a question from opposition member Andrew Fahie.

Additional information received included a list of consultancy expenses from the Ministry of Education and Culture and a list of legal firms engaged with the government.

Other similar lists, though, were not made public.

The Beacon published an article on March 12, noting that the government had declined to provide the vast majority of the documents provided non-verbally.

Shortly after the article was published, HOA officials approached this reporter, conveying their surprise at the article and saying that they had passed along all the information that was received during the third HOA sitting.

“Mr. Leonard: Pls advise the Beacon that they have been given all of the information that was received from the ministers in response to the questions raised at the sitting of 12th February and which continued on 17th February, including what was passed to the opposition members during the third sitting of the House of Assembly,” Ms. Moses-Scatliffe wrote in an e-mail to Mr. Leonard on March 16.

Since the Beacon had not, in fact, received all the documents said to be provided during the third sitting, this reporter submitted a detailed list of all outstanding information from each sitting to the HOA on April 7.

Mr. Leonard responded two days later, stating that officials were reviewing the request.

“We are currently going through all of our printed and electronic documents, listening to the audio recordings, and looking at the videos to ascertain where we are, exactly, in terms of your request,” he stated. “Please be patient with us as we seek to rectify this.”

HOA dissolved

The Beacon made multiple calls and e-mails over the next several weeks seeking an update on the status of the information request, and Mr. Leonard said each time that HOA staffers were still working on it. He did not say definitively whether the information would be forthcoming.

Last Thursday, this reporter called the HOA again to request the information, only to be told that Ms. Moses-Scatliffe had been addressing the Beacon’s request and can no longer do so since the HOA was dissolved on May 1. 

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