We alluded to this issue briefly in a story on Monday’s
front page, but wanted to take a bit more time here to explore it.
Apparently, the Cayman Islands Information Commissioner’s
Office decided that certain records it ordered the Port Authority to release to
the public no longer needed to be released. This was decided because the
applicant for that information withdrew their request.
The request related to a number of records that involved the
ongoing kerfuffle between government, China Harbour Engineering and GLF over
the oft-proposed, but never yet built, George Town cruise ship berthing
facility.
By the time the applicant for the information decided to
withdraw their request, three of the four records it sought had already been
leaked to the press or members of the public. The only one remaining was a
record of Port Authority board meeting minutes from last year.
So, the applicant for this information, after fighting
through a six-month process trying to get at these records, suddenly has a
change of heart at the 11th hour and decides the remaining information that has
not been made public regarding the port situation with China Harbour and GLF
really isn’t so important anymore? We might add that last Friday, 27 January,
was the deadline for the government to release the remaining records.
We’d call that a very odd decision, indeed.
Presumably, anyone else who requested the same records again
– following the information commissioner’s decision to disclose them – would be
granted access to those meeting minutes. The Cayman Islands government could
always take them to court to fight the release of the meeting minutes, which
the country’s Freedom of Information Law allows it to do.
Perhaps others will request those meeting minutes and we’ll
see what course the government will take. In the meantime, we’re left to wonder
exactly what happened in this case.
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