Oct 23 - Opposition Criticism on Transparency is ‘Scraping the Bottom of the Barrel’ – Claims Government
The Government has insisted that the Opposition is ‘scraping the bottom of the barrel’ with their criticism of the Government. The GSD yesterday claimed that the Government have refused to publish or share the contents of reports that are commissioned.
A No.6 statement has insisted that they already published the Fishing Report and the King Report on the future of GBC. The opposition, the statement continues, refused to publish the King Report when in Government.
They add that the GHA review is set to be published when its key recommendations have been implemented, at the request of the Board. The statement then notes, ‘the Upper Rock plan is taking time to prepare because it is being done properly and it takes times to consult all the players and get it right. However, people will recall that the GSD Government commissioned an Upper Rock Management Plan in 2005 and then refused to publish it. It was only the change of Government that once again led to the publication of a report that had previously been kept secret.
It is clear that the Opposition have no credibility and are selective with their information when they are critical of the Government in this regard. Moreover, this has to be seen in the context of the wider democratic reforms that the Government has implemented in such a short time. This includes the publication of on-line statistics, , ten meetings of Parliament for questions a year instead of two or three, greater transparency through faster production of Hansard and televising of Parliament, an open planning process and public meetings of the Board of the Gibraltar Health Authority. There is no comparison between this and the closed and secretive system that the GSD Opposition presided over during their time in Government.’
