The Bermuda Sun picks up on one of Bermuda’s biggest vulnerabilities: the ability of politicians to override at will any regulations or decisions made by the civil service. This unchecked power was originally provided for in Bermuda law, to be used with great discretion, to maintain the island’s flexibility. The problem is that political overrides [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Transparency'
Checks and Balances
March 27th, 2009 · Comments Off · Accountability, Bermuda Politics, Business, Development, Media, Transparency
Tags:corruption·good governance·meddling·political interference
Secret Society
March 21st, 2009 · Comments Off · Accountability, Bermuda Politics, Transparency
You have to question if Government are really serious about Public Access to Information (PATI). Last week, the Premier announced that Cabinet would post the details on some of the major contracts it grants. Which led to the obvious question: “how will those contracts be tendered?” Which led to the Premier’s press secretary Glenn Jones [...]
Tags:Contracting·FOIA·PATI
Baby Steps
March 18th, 2009 · Comments Off · Accountability, Bermuda Politics, Media, Transparency
The Premier announced that all contracts awarded by Cabinet will appear in the Official Gazette beginning April Fools Day. Contract details like the name of the contractor, the services to be provided, the amount of the contract, whether it was tendered or sole sourced, and the Ministry providing the funding will also be listed. Dr. [...]
Tags:Contracting·FOIA·PATI
PATI Progress!
March 17th, 2009 · Comments Off · Transparency
It’s Sunshine Week, a international initiative in which journalism organizations promote open government and freedom of information. (Government’s decree to cut advertising in its publications occurred around the time of the Royal Gazette’s dogged cheerleading of Sunshine Week last year). On cue, Attorney General Kim Wilson has promised that the Bermudian public will be asked [...]
Beneficial Ownership
March 16th, 2009 · Comments Off · Accountability, Bermuda Politics, Transparency
The TCI commission has allowed a peek into the sordid side of small island politics. The Turks case has involved a massive web of front companies, allegedly used to obscure the involvement of prominent individuals in deals with the Government. The Commission has recommended a list of steps to rectify the situation. Most are plain [...]
Tags:AML/ATF·Contracting·courthouse
Turks Constitution Suspended
March 16th, 2009 · Comments Off · Accountability, Reform, Transparency
The Governor of the Turks & Caicos has announced that their constitution will be partially suspended for up to two years while the Government of TCI is effectively rebuilt. It seems that the many governance shortcuts that have been taken in pursuit of rapid growth have seriously undermined the country and, in effect, created a [...]
Tags:TCI·Turks & Caicos
Reform
March 13th, 2009 · Comments Off · Accountability, Bermuda Politics, Transparency
Very clear words about Bermuda’s malgovernment: The problem isn’t that an Auditor General seems determined to damage the Government, as the Premier claims, but that the Government seems determined to damage itself. This keeps going on and on, with no sign of remorse or correction, no indication that lessons are learned or that anything at [...]
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Public Tenders
February 25th, 2009 · Comments Off · Accountability, Transparency
Some positive news from the Budget. Works & Engineering will launch in the next year a procurement website to provide “equal bidding opportunities for all contractors seeking Government work”. That’s a positive development and long overdue. Some thoughts: Why just W&E? This should be used for ALL government procurements. The procurement of the procurement website [...]
Tags:Contracting
FOI in Action
February 23rd, 2009 · Comments Off · Transparency
While Bermuda continues to pay lip service to public access to information, the Cayman Islands forge ahead. Their Freedom of Information (FOI) Unit has just released a report on the first month of implementation. The report summarises the total number of FOI requests received by public authorities and gives examples of the types of requests [...]
What’s the Plan?
February 12th, 2009 · Comments Off · Accountability, Bermuda Politics, Transparency
Building on the theme of openness and communication, the US Government is setting up websites (see here and there) to describe how the economic stimulus dollars will be spent as well as describe “new measures and conditions to strengthen accountability, oversight and transparency.” Of course it’s easier to communicate the plan when you have one. [...]
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