A FORMER Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mr. Charles Ramson, S.C. was, yesterday, sworn in to the newly created position of Commissioner of Information.

He took the oath of office in front of President Donald Ramotar at Office of the President (OP), Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, in Georgetown.
Ramson’s appointment was first announced in May by Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon, who said it was made by the Head of State under the Access to Information Act 2011 and confers, upon the appointee, powers to enforce the provisions.
In invited comments yesterday, Ramson told the media that his entire “operational calculus” is prescribed by and predicated upon the provisions of the 2011 Act, adding that he will, faithfully, do whatever is required of him, based on the law.
He explained that he is supposed to be a “clearing house” for all information requested by members of the public from the public authority.
Ramson also pointed out that the public authority includes any Government agency, statutory body or any company that is wholly owned or subscribed to by the Government.
Large area
He said the Commissioner of Information has a fairly large area of responsibility and carries with it very onerous duties.
According to him, there has never been anything like this in the country and possibly the entire Caribbean. He stated that, while there has been a lot of talk about freedom of information, Guyana’s legislation is, specifically, called Access to Information and that path must be via the Office of the Commissioner of Information.
“It wasn’t something that I created for myself or arrogated to myself. The statute was so designed to have a sort of monitoring house…it’s a clearing house for all kinds of requests and all agencies deemed public authorities will be required to submit information which I deem to be accessible by members of the public,” he reiterated.
Ramson emphasised that not all information will be available, noting that there are several categories of it, such as top secret, secret, confidential and general.
Important thing
“The important thing is that, depending on the classification of information, the public authority will have to respond as requested by me,” he underscored.
Ramson maintained, however, that any member of the public or any person domicile in Guyana can request information.
At the time of the announcement of Ramson’s appointment, Luncheon, also Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), had stated that the Information Commissioner’s Office would be located in the Office of the President.
He had also said the Commissioner, under the Act, has the power to ensure disclosure and that Guyanese would be told, through the media, that this information is available for access by members of the public.