Vexed Bermoothes

Some encouraging news today.  A cross-party parliamentary committee reviewing how educational reform is being implemented in the wake of the Hopkins Report wants to hold its meetings in public, according to its chairman, PLP MP Neletha Butterfield. She said that its members were determined to be “accountable and transparent”.
In June the British House of […]

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The Minister of Finance has released a response to the Auditor’s Report.

As usual it is on the PLP website but cannot be found on the Government website.
The Auditor’s Report does not seem to be publicly available either.

It is beyond me how Government can have so many communications people yet be so bad at communicating its […]

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The Cayman Islands recently passed a public access to information law, which will come into full effect in January.  The law was based on a wide ranging public consultation (including experts from the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative or CHRI).  With a rapid deployment schedule, the Cayman government has been active in training the civil […]

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Alex Scott revealed to the Royal Gazette today that the PLP caucus is due to discuss Public Access to Information in the near future.

“Without going into details, it has been officially put before us,” he said. “It probably doesn’t do harm for me […]

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The Select Committee on Foreign Affairs of the UK House of Commons has published their Seventh Report on the Overseas Territories.

It includes a wide variety of “housekeeping” suggestions regarding ways to improve governance in the Overseas Territories as well as to improve the UK’s relationship with them.
It includes a whirlwind tour of Bermuda’s dysfunctions including […]

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Government has said that it is committed to transparency.
So why then has the Bermuda Health Council reversed its policy of publishing its minutes?  Moreover, why have the previously available minutes been removed from public view?
Given the controversies that have recently swirled around health care and management of the Hospital, this is a retrograde step.
The schedules […]

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Government now has dozens of civil servants working in communications and public relations. It has also invested huge sums in building websites.
Yet, to read most statements from Government Ministers, given in their official capacity, one must visit the PLP website. These official statements do not appear on the Government website or CITV.
This blurring […]

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I am pleased to see the following Motion in the Senate this afternoon:
(4) Motion to be moved by Senator M.H. Dunkley, notice of which was given on 12th March, 2008: “That the Senate recommends that a Joint Select Committee be established to oversee the introduction and implementation of Public Access to Information legislation in Bermuda.”
Notwithstanding […]

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I am told that the UBP has begun posting the agendas for the Bermuda House of Assembly and for the Senate, as well as some draft legislation, at their website.  Good job from them; this is a solid start.
The more information they post, the more insight people can gain into the machinations of our Government.
But […]

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The clubby isolation of Bermuda’s legislature drives me crazy.   We hear lots of references about “the people’s business” but the institution does not operate in a way that allows the people to understand what’s going on, or to participate in it.
And let’s face it, the current PLP is not in a mood to drive […]

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