Imagine the following scenarios.
A concerned East End resident wants to know where burglars have struck in her neighbourhood. A voter wonders if a government minister is favouring a certain district with spending. West End homeowners seek government-held information to judge if their health is at risk from the trash burning in Pockwood Pond.
If the Virgin Islands had freedom of information legislation, these hypothetical residents could use it to compel government agencies to provide answers to such questions. Journalists, who routinely use FOI legislation in other countries, could do the same.
The VI, however, has no FOI law despite two decades of promises from successive governments, including the current administration.
As a result, VI residents’ ability to exercise their right to know what their government is doing remains largely theoretical.
Here at the Beacon, we feel the effects on a regular basis.
This newspaper is routinely denied access to public contracts and other basic information about how the government is spending taxpayers’ money. With no FOI law in place, we frequently have no recourse.
This is not to blame tight-lipped public officers. Many of them would be pleased to hand over information. But without a FOI act, they have no clear guidance on what they can release, and they may be victimised by politicians or more senior public officers if they take a risk.
In its lack of FOI legislation, the VI has fallen behind much of the rest of the region.
A recently released report from the Jamaica-based Media Institute of the Caribbean notes that nine of 17 countries and territories in the English-speaking Caribbean have FOI laws: Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Belize, Trinidad and Tobago, Cayman Islands, Bahamas, Guyana, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Antigua and Barbuda. Another four — St. Lucia, Grenada, Barbados and the VI — have drafted but not enacted FOI laws.
The VI, then, needs to catch up by passing one as soon as possible.
But as the territory moves ahead, it must remember that a FOI act is no guarantee. Indeed, the Media Institute of the Caribbean also found that many FOI laws in the region are too weak to be very effective — or they are simply ignored by governments.
In its report, the institute compared the region’s nine enacted FOI laws to the Organisation of American States’ 2020 Inter-American Model Law 2.0 on Access to Public Information.
The model legislation — an excellent starting point for the VI — clearly defines which government bodies are subject to FOI disclosure; mandates that governments respond to requests within 20 days, with the possibility of a 20-day extension; stipulates that electronically provided answers to requests should be free; defines and limits the exemptions that governments can use to deny a request; and clearly outlines the appeal process.
But many of the region’s FOI laws currently lack such provisions, according to the report. And in other cases, governments simply don’t follow the law.
As the VI considers its own FOI act, it must learn from its neighbours and pass strong legislation that accords with international best practice and adequately protects the public’s right to know.
Such legislation will reduce corruption, improve accountability and generally strengthen democracy.
We are grateful for signs that change is in the wind here.
Many leaders have touted the importance of FOI in recent years — especially following the recent Commission of Inquiry.
Additionally, the Constitutional Review Commission recently recommended that FOI legislation be enacted here and that the right to access public information be enshrined in coming constitutional amendments.
It’s long past time for elected leaders to put such vocal support into concrete action.