A freedom-of-information law that successive governments have been promising for two decades is coming soon, according to Premier Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley.
The premier said the long-delayed move — which would codify the public’s right to know how the government spends taxpayers’ money — is a key aspect of the agenda his administration laid out in the Speech from the Throne earlier this month.
Though Mr. Wheatley acknowledged that past Throne speeches have routinely overpromised and underachieved, he said he is determined to push through on the reform, which would be a major step toward bringing the territory in line with international transparency standards.
“In the past, there wasn’t enough follow-through,” the premier told the Beacon in a Jan. 15 interview, adding, “But I’m determined to pass it. In fact, freedom of information is absolutely essential, because you’re seeking to build a modern Virgin Islands.”
The premier — who had advocated for a FOI law for years before he was first elected to office in 2019 — added that the territory needs to establish a “model democracy.”
“And of course, you can’t have a model democracy without properly enacting and enshrining the right to have factual information,” he said.
Free access?
Asked if FOI requests would be free, or subject to a charge as they are in the United Kingdom, the premier said he is against imposing a fee.
“My preference would be free,” he said. “My preference would be free for access, proper access, to information. Of course, I know it would probably require some money to get that function in properly, but I think that’s perhaps an investment we’re willing to make.”
Decades of inaction
Leaders have been promising a FOI law since the now-disbanded Law Reform Commission drafted one about 20 years ago, but the bill has never been tabled in the House of Assembly.
Then-governor John Rankin said in the 2022 Speech from the Throne, which laid out the agenda of the government then led by Andrew Fahie, that FOI reforms would be introduced in the upcoming session.
But the reform did not happen, and the proposed measure was not mentioned in Mr. Rankin’s 2023 Throne speech, which was the latest one before this month’s speech.
Meanwhile, the Constitutional Review Commission added its voice to the calls for a FOI law in the report it released last year ahead of the pending constitutional negotiations.
Around the region
A report released last year by the Jamaica-based Media Institute of the Caribbean stated that nine of the 17 English-speaking countries and territories in the region had enacted FOI laws, including Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Belize, Trinidad and Tobago, the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, Guyana, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Antigua and Barbuda.
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