KINGSTON, Jamaica — Faced with strong public backlash, the Andrew Holness administration has decided to withdraw the resolution tabled last Tuesday to extend the period of exemption for Cabinet documents from 20 years to 70 years.

In a release issued a short while ago, the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) said it noted the concerns raised by members of the public since the resolution was tabled and has decided to reconsider its decision.

“The Government appreciates and understands the sentiment of the Jamaican people and has a duty to thoroughly explore and consider all the issues before it and balance competing rights to achieve equity,” said the OPM.

“As planned, at the next sitting of Parliament, the Government will name a Joint Select Committee to review the Access to Information Act, the Archives Act and the Official Secrets Acts.

“The government will withdraw the interim measure of the Order Resolution and instead have the very important issues raised in the public debate go straight to the Joint Select Committee for their consideration,” added the OPM.

According to OPM, the administration remains committed to governmental accountability, transparency and public participation in national decision-making.

The announcement from OPM came hours after Leader of Opposition Business in the Senate, Donna Scott-Mottley called on the Government to immediately withdraw and abandon the resolution.

According to Scott-Mottley, the move was a retrograde step which undermines the objectives of the Access to Information Act, passed more than 17 years ago.

“The Government should be seeking to increase transparency and foster trust between them and the citizens, not hiding its decisions and operations from the people it swears to serve,” added Scott-Mottley.

The anti-corruption entity, National Integrity Action (NIA) and immediate past president of the Press Association of Jamaica Dionne Jackson Miller, were also among those who rejected the resolution.

“In the absence of compelling reasons and an unambiguous explanation related to Jamaica’s specific circumstances, the NIA calls on the Government to immediately withdraw the proposal to hide Cabinet documents from the Jamaican people for an additional 50 years beyond the current 20 years now in existing law. Such a proposal is thoroughly retrograde and completely unacceptable,” said Professor Trevor Munroe, executive director of the NIA.

“What the Government wants to do is also going against international standards and norms where the move is to increase access,” said Jackson Miller in a letter to the Jamaica Observer as she argued that the resolution should be opposed, and the Government should withdraw it.

Arthur Hall