NASSAU, Bahamas — Information Commissioner Keith Thompson yesterday slammed Opposition Leader Michael Pintard for falsely claiming at a Free National Movement (FNM) meeting on Wednesday night that he was one of the officials written to for information, who refused to even respond, The Nassau Guardian reported on Friday, February 10, in an article written by Executive Editor Candia Dames.
As he put senior public servants on notice that they will be called before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament to answer questions, Pintard, the PAC chairman, said most of them who received requests for information on government contracts did not even bother to respond.
He said, “We have written the commissioner with responsibility for the freedom of information (FOI) and have not been able to access the relevant information that we need.”
Thompson responded, “I’m now saying that never happened. Mr. Pintard should produce whatever communication he says he sent to me in my capacity as the commissioner of freedom of information. He has to produce that and say where he sent it. Never, never came to me.”
Pintard was wrong on two fronts: He nor anyone connected to the PAC or the FNM wrote the information commissioner.
Had he or anyone else done so, it would have been a futile exercise because under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the information commissioner is not responsible for receiving and answering information requests.
The commissioner — among other duties — is responsible for providing training to public authorities for implementation and compliance under the FOIA in accordance with best practices.
Thompson, a retired Supreme Court justice, was appointed to the role under the Minnis administration in May 2021. (The commissioner is not regarded as a public officer under the Public Service Act.)
An incensed Thompson, who is working to put in place the infrastructure for the full roll out of the FOI regime, said he was “shocked” by Pintard’s claim.
“I’m in total shock and my name is all I have,” he told The Nassau Guardian. “I don’t play politics. I must answer and set the record straight.”
After he was contacted by The Guardian yesterday and asked to produce the letter purportedly sent to the information commissioner, Pintard said he had “misspoken”. See complete article in The Nassau Guardian at https://thenassauguardian.com/information-chief-blasts-pintard/
