We hear complaints quite frequently that the Cayman Islands public sector isn’t as open and transparent as it should be.
To be certain, there are several areas where improvements are needed and where government openness has far to go. This newspaper still has difficulty, almost on a daily basis, in obtaining the most basic information about government departments, ministries and portfolios. However, it is probably worth noting – in a positive sense – just how far Cayman has come since the advent of its Freedom of Information Law in January 2009.
Since that time, more than 3,000 open records requests have been filed by individuals seeking access to government-held information and documents; well more than half of those requests have been granted.
Moreover, the process surrounding Cayman’s freedom of information regime has proved itself over and over again to be credible and fair; with thanks in large part to Information Commissioner Jennifer Dilbert, her deputy Jan Liebaers and hardworking staff members.
We were quite surprised – and pleased – to hear no less an authority on open records than the Carter Center’s Laura Neuman refer to the Cayman Islands as a shining example in the Caribbean of how FOI has worked and worked well.
Comparing notes with other jurisdictions in the region, Jamaica’s FOI law – which passed in 2004 – has been fraught with problems and under-utilised according to its FOI officials.
During the first five years of operation, Jamaica received fewer open records requests than Cayman did in its first four years.
Jamaica’s population is somewhere around 2.6 million; Cayman’s is somewhere around 60,000. In Trinidad, they’ve passed an FOI law but haven’t implemented it. The Bahamas’ recent effort to generate interest in an open records regime failed. Barbados, St. Lucia and St. Kitts all have draft laws that have not yet been taken up by legislators. Despite the difficulties it has brought, Cayman’s FOI effort has so far succeeded beyond anyone’s expectations and beyond anything our Caribbean neighbours have come up with.
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