Voices of Its Principles
Alliance For Change Column
Kaieteur News
April 1, 2007
Cricket, glorious cricket is generally occupying the minds of Guyanese now that the Cricket World Cup Super Eight matches are being played in Guyana . The spanking new Providence Stadium has provided opportunity for Guyanese to display national pride worthy of the outward beauty which the Providence Stadium presents.
As we approach today's match between the West Indies and Sri Lanka , with apprehension, the Alliance For Change (AFC ) craves your attention on a matter of grave importance for the strengthening of our fledgling democracy - the right to access information.
Presented below are arguments of importance to Guyana about the value of the right to access information which was sent to the AFC for circulation by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), an NGO in special consultative status with the Economic & Social Council of the United Nations.
It strengthens democracy:
The right to access information gives practical meaning to the principles of participatory democracy. The underlying foundation of the democratic tradition rests on the premise of an informed constituency that is able to thoughtfully choose its representatives on the basis of the strength of their record and that is able to hold their government accountable for the policies and decisions it promulgates.
The right to information has a crucial role in ensuring that citizens are better informed about the people they are electing and their activities while in government. Democracy is enhanced when people meaningfully engage with their institutions of governance and form their judgments on the basis of facts and evidence, rather than just empty promises and meaningless political slogans.
It supports participatory development:
Much of the failure of development strategies to date is attributable to the fact that, for years, they were designed and implemented in a closed environment - between governments and donors and without the involvement of people. If governments are obligated to provide information, people can be empowered to more meaningfully determine their own development destinies. They can assess for themselves why development strategies have gone askew and press for changes to put development back on track.
It is a proven anti-corruption tool:
In 2006, of the nine countries scoring best in Transparency International's annual Corruption Perceptions Index, no fewer than eight had effective legislation enabling the public to see government files. In contrast, of the ten countries perceived to be the worst in terms of corruption, only one had a functioning access to information regime. The right to information increases transparency by opening up public and private decision-making processes to scrutiny.
It supports economic development:
The right to information provides crucial support to the market-friendly, good governance principles of transparency and accountability. Markets, like governments, do not function well in secret. Openness encourages a political and economic environment more conducive to the free market tenets of ‘perfect information' and ‘perfect competition'. In turn, this results in greater growth, not least because it encourages greater investor confidence. Economic equality is also conditional upon freely accessible information because a right to information ensures that information itself does not become just another commodity that is corralled and cornered by the few for their sole benefit.
It helps to reduce conflict:
Democracy and national stability are enhanced by policies of openness which engender greater public trust in their representatives. Importantly, enhancing people's trust in their government goes some way to minimizing the likelihood of conflict.
Openness and information-sharing contribute to national stability by establishing a two-way dialogue between citizens and the state, reducing distance between government and people and thereby combating feelings of alienation.
Systems that enable people to be part of, and personally scrutinise, decision-making processes reduce citizens' feelings of powerlessness and weakens perceptions of exclusion from opportunity or unfair advantage of one group over another.
The AFC's Freedom Of Information (FOI) Bill No. 26 of 2006 could be viewed on its website: www.afcguyana.com. A critique of the Bill and for additional information, see the website of the CHRI: http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org
In seeking to access information about the measures government intends to take to address the issue of safety and to prevent jail breaks in particular, AFC Chairman, Mr. Raphael Trotman, MP received this response from the Minister of Home Affairs to his questions posed in Parliamentary Notice Paper No. 61.
· Increase surveillance and monitoring capabilities at prison locations in order to prevent and reduce the element of surprise by prisoners and support staff in maintaining the security integrity of those locations.
· Create more opportunity for staff to develop core competence and skills, from strategic courses done in-house, external institutions, Joint Services training and overseas exposures.
· Review staff establishment and increase staff strength to adequately supervise inmates.
· Fortify existing structures to safely house inmates.
· Develop and maintain Joint Services' operational response drills to emergencies occurring within the prison facilities in Guyana .
· Establish monitoring teams to audit/review the security and management of prison locations in terms of structural capabilities, compliance with security procedures and generally the efficiency of prison locations.
· Provide a comprehensive retraining regime that will provide prisoners with a sense of hope and incentives to conduct themselves positively in the prison environment.