Topic: Freedom of Information
FOI shows sharp rise in HSA board meetings and pay
The Health Services Authority Board met 190 times in the space of 18 months and was paid almost half-a-million dollars during that time, according to information obtained by the Compass.
Ombudsman takes right-to-know into schools
The Office of the Ombudsman is bringing the message that knowledge is power and public transparency builds trust into local schools this week.
The school...
Government spent $650,000 on Emancipation Day celebrations
It was a party that many in Cayman will remember for a long time, and a bill they will be paying for even longer. The Cayman Islands government spent more than $650,000 of public funds on celebrations for Emancipation Day this year.
Nepalese now among top five work permit nationalities
The Nepalese community has grown in the Cayman Islands to become the fifth nationality with the most work permit holders, according to data released from local law firm HSM.
10 key issues for 2024: From artificial intelligence to government transparency
New year, same problems? Well, kind of. The Cayman Compass list of issues we will be watching closely in 2024 features some familiar concerns as well as pressing new challenges that loom on the horizon.
Cayman’s UK tourism chief leaves role; officials silent over suspect sponsorships
Cayman tourism’s marketing director for the UK and Europe appears to have moved on from the role, some nine months after the Compass revealed his role in a suspect sponsorships scandal.
Tourism officials ordered to hand over sponsorship records to Compass
Department of Tourism officials have been ordered to hand over a cache of documents linked to its controversial sponsorship strategy, following a 20-month Freedom of Information battle with the Cayman Compass.
Health ministry ordered to disclose data to unsuccessful MRCU jobseeker
Ombudsman Sharon Roulstone has ordered the Ministry of Health to release information to an applicant about why he was not chosen for a job in the Mosquito Research and Control Unit, almost two years after he first requested the data under a Freedom of Information request.
Lowest number of Freedom of Information requests since inception of law
The number of Freedom of Information requests has dropped to the lowest point since the FOI Law took effect in Cayman on 5 Jan. 2009.
NEW: Carter’s ‘golden handshake’ remains under wraps
Details of the pay-out to the former head of a dysfunctional government department can remain secret, the Cayman Islands ombudsman has ruled.
No policy for alerting public to ocean bacteria spikes
In October, levels of faecal bacteria in the waters surrounding the east end of Grand Cayman were found to be nearly 50 times greater than accepted safety standards.
EDITORIAL – You decide: ‘OfReg’ or ‘RipOff Reg’?
OfReg, despite its unclear pronunciation and cryptic branding (it’s pronounced “OFFReg” and is derived from the semantic marriage of “Office” and “Regulation”), is nonetheless becoming a household word – and not a good one.
Manderson: Complaints about Gov. Choudhury ‘belong to UK’
Cayman Islands Acting Governor Franz Manderson has deferred any public release of the contents of staff complaints made against withdrawn Governor Anwar Choudhury, stating all such records belong to the United Kingdom government.
Ministry of Finance: Apology unnecessary
Despite a suggestion by the Office of the Ombudsman, the Ministry of Finance appears to have no intention of issuing an apology to a freedom of information applicant who complained about the ministry’s handling of the request.
More than 60 percent of residency denials appealed
More than 200 applicants for permanent residence who were denied that immigration status since 2017 have filed challenges to those decisions, according to records obtained by a Cayman Compass Freedom of Information request.
Compass investigation: 99 suspects on police bail without charges
Prominent members of the Cayman Islands criminal justice community, including the police commissioner and director of public prosecutions, have acknowledged concerns about the use of “police bail” after it emerged that nearly 100 criminal suspects had restrictions placed on their freedom – many for more than a year – without facing any official charge or form of court oversight.
EDITORIAL – Freedom of Information a poor substitute for free flow of information
Government service is different from private sector employment. It is not work done for profit, product or pure self-interest. It is work undertaken on the people’s behalf, using the people’s money, to preserve society’s common interests.
EDITORIAL – New Ombudsman: ‘Smart,’ ‘tough,’ and facing a challenge
Ms. Hermiston can expect to face some resistance from entrenched interests, politicians, regulators and civil servants who may be perfectly content with “business as usual.”
Information chief ‘surprised’ at governor’s decision
Acting Information Commissioner Jan Liebaers said he was not consulted about Governor Helen Kilpatrick’s decision to quash the release of a $312,000 taxpayer-funded consultant’s report.
Governor Kilpatrick blocks access to ‘Ritch Report,’ nixes court challenge
Cayman Islands Governor Helen Kilpatrick has ruled it “would not be in the public interest” for the territory’s information commissioner to see a copy of the immigration consultant’s report that taxpayers spent $312,000 to obtain last year. The decision by Governor Kilpatrick “shall not be subject to challenge in judicial or quasi-judicial proceedings of any kind,” according to the relevant section of the Freedom of Information Law.
FOI Commissioner turns to court to obtain ‘Ritch Report’
The Cayman Islands Information Commissioner’s Office can now be added to the list of those taking legal action against government over various issues related to the granting of permanent resident status.
Unpaid PR fees reach over $4 million
Government is owed more than $4 million in unpaid permanent residency fees, some dating back seven years, according to data from a citizens’ freedom of information request.
Cayman government struggling to keep track of FOI requests
Although the tracking of open records requests made to the Cayman Islands government has improved in the last two years, there are still a number of high-profile authorities that are not able to keep track of those requests as required by law.
FOI requests at lowest level since law came into force
The number of requests made under the Freedom of Information Law, giving the public access to government records, is at the lowest level since the law came into effect in 2009, according to a new report from the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Liebaers: ‘It’s Yours, Just Ask!’
It is all too easy to forget that government works for the people, and that information held by public authorities should be open and accessible, either proactively or upon request.
EDITORIAL – The most important lesson of the day: Cayman’s schools
When teachers are unhappy, we all should be unhappy – and from the tenor of the remarks in yesterday’s Compass, many teachers are very unhappy, indeed.
EDITORIAL – Is our premier the ‘dummy’ or the ventriloquist?
Perhaps Premier Alden McLaughlin is willing to play the role of the “dummy” — but we, and we presume the Caymanian people, are not.
Cayman governors’ memos
The U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office released annual reports sent by Cayman Islands governors to Britain between 1987 and 2005.
Ministry’s open records response ‘verged on obstruction’
The Cayman Islands Information Commissioner’s Office said Friday that it will make a formal report to the deputy governor’s office alleging that government officials verged on a “complete denial” of a Freedom of Information applicant’s rights under the law and constitution after it took nearly two years for an FOI request for records related to the local pensions investment laws to be resolved.
Government sought $108 per hour charge for FOI request
The Cayman Islands Information Commissioner has rejected an attempt by the government to charge an individual $108 per hour so a civil service department could recover public records the person sought via a Freedom of Information request.
Two-year-old pension report awaits Cabinet review
Representatives of the Finance Ministry have declined to release a Jan. 1, 2014 financial evaluation of the Public Service Pensions system twice in the last six months, citing a pending review of the documentation by Cabinet ministers to occur at a date in the future.
Operation Tempura records released
More than four years after the initial open records request was filed for the documents, Cayman Islands Governor Helen Kilpatrick’s office has released two controversial reports, sought by a retired U.K. journalist, related to the ill-fated Operation Tempura corruption investigation.
