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The two month deadline that President Bharrat Jagdeo set for his government to introduce Freedom of Information legislation is fast approaching. The nation will recall that whilst in attendance at the 5th Summit of the Americas, in April, 2009, President Jagdeo was faced with the AFC’s full-page advertisement, and was pressed by international journalists to respond to questions about governance, corruption, and transparency in Guyana.
The President was quoted as saying, among other things, that legislation was being prepared and would be presented to Parliament within two months. The AFC has since learnt that the government will be using the Trinidad & Tobago model as a precedent just as the AFC did.
President Jagdeo is reminded that he made his promise in a very public and international way and that the eyes of the free world are on him and his government. His failure to keep his word will once again indicate that we are faced with a government that gives lip service to the concepts of democracy and good governance.
Whilst the AFC supports the introduction and passage of this legislation, it again reminds the government that there is already legislation before the National Assembly that has been designed to achieve the same objective of providing access to information to members of the public. The AFC is more than willing to have the government endorse, and adopt its Bill in order to expedite the process.
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