EDITORIAL

Government Heeds Call For More Information

Friday, May 14, 2004

Over the past year, Cayman Net News has on numerous occasions taken to task various elements of the government, including ministers, authorities and departments, for not being forthcoming with information that the public has a right to know.

This newspaper has a strong belief that as part of the social evolution of this country, there must be more “sunshine” in governmental affairs, not only for the enlightenment of residents, but also to help curb the human inclination to abuse power when there are no public accounts to hold officials responsible for their actions.

Time and again in the past, government and its agents simply ignored questions asked and requests for information from Cayman Net News, and we often wrote about these denials in this very editorial space.

Some residents – and often those in elected office – saw our editorial approach not as an attempt to help bring about change, but as proof that we had “an axe to grind” with the Government.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

While Cayman Net News will continue to raise difficult issues, and question actions of the Government with which we disagree, we also believe in giving credit where credit is due.

With this in mind, we are pleased to have noticed a change in the way some involved with the Government are releasing information, and answering pertinent questions from this newspaper.

In particular, the Minister of Health recently responded to questions we had posed concerning the departure of former Health Services Authority CEO Michael Elliott. Although it took some persistence on our part to receive the answers to our queries, and we believe such information should have been made available on a timelier basis, it is nonetheless very encouraging to see that the response was made.

We must also acknowledge the frank and prompt response we received from the Police Commissioner with regard to a report of a police matter recently. Though the reply we received convinced us there was no story to pursue at this time, our responsibility as a newspaper required investigation into the report, and without official response, it would have been difficult to make an informed decision.

There have also been other instances of co-operation from government with supplying information as well. The Ministry of Tourism, Environment, Development and Commerce, Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, and nearly all of the country’s ministers have all shown signs of being more co-operative in supplying information when we have asked.

Not only does make it possible for us to do our job more fairly, accurately and efficiently, it is a welcome development for the people of the Cayman Islands to have access to information on matters of importance concerning the way their government conducts its business.

These commendations given, however, it must be said that there are still some in Government who apparently feel they need not answer to the media, or by extension, to the people. This mind-set seems a vestige of a bygone era when much of what happened in Cayman’s government never reached the awareness of the public.

While some in positions of authority may yearn for these “good old days”, the fact is that this country has evolved, and the people of the Cayman Islands will no longer tolerate these archaic attitudes.

And neither will Cayman Net News.

We will continue to ask those in Government in a position to know the answers to questions that the people have a right to know, and the unco-operative holdovers that continue to suppress information will face public disclosure for their actions in this newspaper.

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