By RICARDO WELLS
Tribune Staff Reporter
rwells@tribunemedia.net
PUBLIC consultation on the draft legislation for the new Freedom of Information Act is expected to be completed by the end of September, according to Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald.
Confirming a recent meeting with the Freedom of Information Act (FIOA) committee, Mr Fitzgerald, the minister responsible for the FIOA, said the way forward on the proposed legislation has already been “outlined”.
“They gave me what they propose to do, I approved it and they are preparing the budget now for me, for the consultation over the summer,” he said.
He added: “We expect, all things being considered by the end of September, that they would have finished their consultation and town hall meetings in New Providence (and) Grand Bahama and found ways and means in which to communicate with others in the Family Islands.”
In May, Mr Fitzgerald suggested that due diligence was needed to ensure “the new and progressive legislation is properly instituted from the onset”.
He said at that time, the criticism met by the 2012 version of the FIOA was due in large part to the number of classes of information exempted from public disclosure by the legislation.
Mr Fitzgerald added: “Taking into consideration the concerns raised by various members of society and international organisations, an amendment to the act would have been extensive indeed. It was therefore decided to create a new bill. As a result, the (FOIA of 2012) will be replaced by the Freedom of Information Bill 2015.”
The FOIA committee is composed of representatives from the Office of the Attorney General, the College of the Bahamas’ law department, the director of archives and the data protection commissioner.
Mr Fitzgerald added that the committee was looking forward to the responses from the public and taking the legislation to House of Assembly.
However, Mr Fitzgerald stopped short of clarifying as to when the public consultation period would begin.
He has maintained that the new bill would seek to reinforce and give effect to certain fundamental principles in the system of constitutional democracy, a concept he said, is grounded in governmental accountability and transparency.
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