A key benefit of having a Freedom of Information Law is that
it helps hold elected officials and those in government service accountable for
their actions, especially when it comes to spending the public’s money.
But one sometimes forgotten aspect of the FOI Law is that it
gives the public access to details of transactions between individuals and
government entities.
In recent months, reporters at the Caymanian Compass have
written news articles derived from FOI requests about how private citizens were
engaged to provide services to the government. One such story detailed how
local musicians were paid $19,000 to travel to New York and Panama to play
music. An article this week detailed how 10 people were paid $560,000 to serve
as park rangers in Barkers park between April 2011 and February 2013.
Both of these stories have caused resentment from some of
the individuals on the receiving end of those payments. People have questioned
the motives of the reporters pursuing these stories and one recently arrested individual
has expressed his view that reporters pursuing such stories must be
anti-Caymanian.
The park ranger article was pursued because at a time when
the government was so strapped for cash that it considered instituting payroll
taxation for the first time in Cayman’s history it was simultaneously employing
people with no park ranger experience and paying them more than all but the top
10 percentile of experienced park rangers with college degrees earn in the US.
The fact that these people were paid on contracts that fell
under the heading of “advisors and consultants” means they weren’t subject to
regular civil service hiring guidelines, but were arbitrarily selected by the
Ministry of Tourism and Development. That is what makes this newsworthy. If people
are uneasy about having the public know how much the government pays them on a
contract, we suggest they abstain from entering into government contracts
because as long as FOI is law, Cayman Free Press will continue to report how
the public purse is being spent.
Related Videos
Excellent editorial. Well done.
…because as long as FOI is law, Cayman Free Press will continue to report how the public purse is being spent.
Please keep up the good work!
There are many who would like to continue the cloak of secrecy of their unorthodox handling of public funds, it has already been stated by many that the freedom of information act was a mistake, that it is too costly and many requests trivial. The freedom of information act will only be useful if organizations like the Cayman Compass continue to ask and present information for all of us to see and understand.
Until government fully embrace the need for total transparency, they will continue to waste time putting out fires.. Projects like the barkers rangers should have been presented to the public as a outstanding customer focused initiative by the government, not as a question mark by an investigative reporter.
When all the Compass has to report is feel good stories, then we know something is working right.
Thanks also to the Auditor General for presenting his findings to the public and not hiding them in file thirteen.