The Access to Information Advisory Stakeholders Committee has called for several amendments to the Access to Information Act, saying that this would help lessen the teething pains dogging the implementation of the statute.

Committee Chair Dr Carolyn Gomes, speaking at a press conference to mark “International Right to Know Day” at the Stella Maris Pastoral Centre in Kingston yesterday, called for amendments to the Act to include the establishment of an ATI Unit, or give the existing Unit powers for monitoring and implementation, while noting that there were grave concerns about the role and staffing of the Unit, which is now in the information ministry.

According to Dr Gomes, “the vital role that could be played by a staffed ATI Unit has been missing from the process for the last 15 months”. The committee has recommended that the staff complement of the unit be expanded and vacant posts filled. Currently there are only three persons on staff.

With respect to the appeal tribunal, which serves an intermediary role between citizens and the public authorities, Gomes said a number of difficulties have been faced, both by persons who had made requests appealing to the tribunal, and by the tribunal in carrying out its functions.

She said problems faced by these persons included lengthy delays in getting responses from the tribunal, lengthy delays in getting dates set for hearings before the tribunal and “excessively formalistic, onerous and legalistic procedures which are off-putting”.

Gomes said the difficulties were due to the fact that all members currently serving on the tribunal were employed elsewhere, leading to severe scheduling difficulties for meetings and tribunal sittings. In addition, she said the tribunal does not have a designated secretariat and has suffered from a lack of resources.

According to Gomes, the situation has resulted in the tribunal not being able to fulfil its role in a timely fashion.

In the meantime, Gomes advised that the tribunal be given its own secretariat.

“A separate secretariat is preferable because there is an inherent conflict in an ATI Unit, which is serving as advisor to government ministries and agencies also making decisions, including denial of documents and is also serving as secretariat to the tribunal and advising the tribunal and the public about appeals,” Gomes said.

She said there was a need for the tribunal to reassess its rules to see if they could be redrafted in a more people-friendly form.

Meanwhile, the committee yesterday called on the government to carry out its promise to repeal the Official Secrets Act in the transition from a culture of secrecy and disconnect to openness, accountability and increased citizen participation in the decision-making process.

Dr Gomes said the repeal of the Act should be accompanied by the enactment of ‘whistleblower’ legislation, which was a necessary part of modern governmental transparency.

Since its introduction in January 2004, 1,014 applications for information have been made to the Access to Information Unit, of which 478 were granted full access. The majority of the requests for information were directed to the Mnistries of education, agriculture, health and finance.

But there were 15 agencies, including the recently established Child Development Agency, that have been able to satisfy 100 per cent of the requests made to it under the Access to Information Act between July 2005 and February 2006.