Joint Select Committee Finalising ATI Report

Members of the Joint Select Committee of Parliament carrying out a review of the operations of the Access to Information (ATI) Act are currently in the process of finalising its report for tabling in Parliament.
Committee members aimed to wrap up a review of their draft report yesterday (October 14), but were not able to get through all the recommendations in that sitting. They have decided to meet next Thursday (October 21), to complete the review process.
During yesterday’s meeting of the Committee at Gordon House, recommendations regarding the signing of applications, expiration of requests, fees and the handling of voluminous requests were discussed.
Regarding a recommendation that an application under the ATI Act would be complete without a signature, some members of the Committee felt such a stipulation would create further hurdles to access to information and it was decided that this recommendation would be withdrawn.
“We want an Act that is open for requests, that’s what we’re looking for,” stated Member of Parliament for North East St. Catherine, Gregory Mair, who was chosen to chair the Committee, in the absence of Information Minister, Hon. Daryl Vaz.
The Committee also agreed on a recommendation that Access to Information officers acknowledge receipt of a request within five business days.
During the deliberations, it was pointed out that there needs to be an acceptable way of dealing with requests that are so voluminous, that they would interfere with the operations of a public body.
However, after discussing the matter, it was agreed that the issue does not appear to be a significant concern at the moment and that in cases where persons might abuse the system with frivolous requests, the costs to obtain copies of the documents would act as a deterrent.
The Access to Information Act, 2002, aims to preserve certain fundamental principles underlying the system of constitutional democracy namely governmental accountability, transparency, and public participation in decision-making. The Act was brought into force on January 5, 2004 on a phased basis.