Danielle Archer, Principal Director of National Integrity Action (NIA), is advocating for the immediate repeal of the Official Secrets Act. She argues that the Protective Disclosure Act, often known as whistleblower legislation, is too modern to coexist with the antiquated, colonial statute.
Also, the Executive Director of Jamaicans for Justice Mickel Jackson has called for the implementation of the long-overdue revision to the Access to Information Act.
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Archer recently expressed her disapproval of the act as she recently argued against the legislation at an Advocates Network post-Budget governance press conference in New Kingston that the 1911 colonial legislation works to defeat the purpose of the more recent whistleblower statute.
The purpose of whistleblower laws is to safeguard those who expose misconduct within the public sector. It will cover incidences of mismanagement that have already happened or are about to happen, and it is meant to cover every kind of malfeasance that may be reported inside an organization.
Public employees are not allowed to disclose certain information to the public under the Official Secrets Act.
“If we are serious about accountability, there has to be the repeal of the Official Secrets Act. There must be a repeal of the archaic law and a strengthening of the Protected Disclosures Act because if we don’t find a way to allow people to talk, governance would be pointless,” she said.
The head of the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions, St. Patrice Ennis, called an internal letter delivered to Jamaica Customs Agency employees in late January that cautioned them against violating the Official Secrets Act “nonsense.” The letter was released in response to a study on air quality assessment that was leaked and revealed that the surrounding area was hazardous.
He claimed to The Gleaner that state agencies frequently abused the law to suppress employees who voiced concerns.
Archer is requesting a precise schedule for the evaluation of important laws, such as the Access to Information Act, to guarantee the implementation of stronger accountability measures.
She criticized lawmakers for the House’s few sessions, saying that because they are now receiving highly attractive incomes thanks to a compensation reform operation that increased their pay by more than 200 percent, there is no room for justification.
“Parliamentarians are required to sit and draft laws and make sure that we have a strong legislative scheme. It’s been an excuse for decades to say that we don’t have enough time,” she remarked.
“We are paying the politicians quality money. There should be no excuses about accommodation or time constraints,” she noted.
When the government would examine the nation’s laws to make them more appropriate for the present state of affairs in Jamaica, Archer expressed her anticipation.
The executive director of JFJ reminded Jamaicans that several requests have been made over the years for an evaluation of the Access to Information Act, but that no action has been taken to amend the legislation as of yet.
A pledge to revise the Access to Information Act was announced in the Governor General’s Throne Speech of 2021.
Speaking at an event organized by the Press Association of Jamaica called “Right to Know Week 2021,” the then-state minister for education, youth, and information Robert Morgan stated that changes to the ATI Act were unlikely to occur anytime soon.
The ATI Act, which was passed in June 2002, grants individuals and other people a wide legal right of access to official government records that are not generally available.
“I do not expect us to have a new law until probably late 2022-23 because the legislative agenda is very packed. I think that’s a little ambitious, but I think if we push, we can get it done” at that moment, he stated.
According to Jackson, the ATI Act had not been used to JFJ’s advantage in obtaining precise information on the Armadale fire, which killed seven girls. She said right now, “We are unaware of how people have been held accountable”.
“When we were speaking to the Protected Disclosures Act at the joint select committee (of Parliament), we made a recommendation that you can’t have a whistleblower law, but there are challenges in how the ATI Act is being utilized and that there is a lack of clarity around the Official Secrets Act,” Jackson stated.
“In other words, you can’t eradicate corruption. You can’t have accountability if the public officials are not aware of what limitations there may be,” she concluded.
