Basseterre, St. Kitts, November 27, 2015 (SKNIS): The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis is planning a series of town hall meetings in January of 2016 geared at educating the populace on the Freedom of Information Bill. Attorney General, the Honourable Vincent Byron Jr., made this disclosure during his November 25 appearance on the Government’s weekly radio and television programme “Working for You.”
“In the new year, we are scheduling a series of public lectures in the form of town hall meetings to discuss this governance bill. People can come and ask questions and have the benefit of counsel and others explaining the bill and putting their points of view as to the scope of freedom of information,” said the attorney general.
The Freedom of Information Bill 2015 was tabled and had its first reading during the September 15th sitting of Parliament. The bill when passed, will allow citizens the right to have access to information that is not deemed classified from the federal government. Attorney General Byron explained that the Team Unity Alliance while in opposition had long advocated for transparency and accountability in government adding that this legislation will go a long way towards ensuring that “these pillars on which democracy is built” are maintained.
He explained that, “because it is so important to our governance agenda, we feel that the people must understand exactly the scope, the limits to which the Freedom of Information Bill call be used.”
The Attorney General further revealed that “if one goes to a government office and asks for a particular piece of information, the government department has to be in a position to provide this information because this law will carry a sanction.”