A culture of silence within the Caribbean’s government system continues to be one of the roadblocks in moving towards a customer based approach in the public service sector and enhancing local governance.
This, according to lecturer on Local Government at Guyana University and member of the Technical Work Group in the Caribbean Forum of Local Government Ministers (CFLGM), Vincent Alexander during the Regional Local Government Consultation & Conference (RLGCC) in Montego Bay.
During his presentation on ‘Customer Oriented Approach to Public Service Delivery Mr. Alexander argued that “we don’t have a culture of providing information to people. There seems to be a feeling that information belongs to the establishment and people are ‘nosy’ when they ask for information. In fact, good governance requires that information should be easily accessed”.
He noted that in order to secure success in local governance within the region while involving the public in the process, “we need to be more open in our dealings and make more information available to the public so that they can understand the basis on which decisions are being made”.
However, Minister of State with responsibility for Local Government, Robert Montague confirmed that Jamaica, unlike some other countries in the region, has been open in providing information to the public.
“We have the Access to Information Act, where by law the public has the right of access to official government information. Even if civil servants want to withhold information, they will still have to make it known within a prescribed period” Min. Montague revealed. He added that while is at an advanced stage of local government reform than other Caribbean countries, there still a need to improve on what exists.
Friday, October 9, 2009
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