Information on why Government decided to choose a particular bidder on a contract could be one of the things made public under access to information laws now being considered.

Government is urging people to have their say on what goes into the new Act which should hit the statute books in the next 18 months.

Kimberley McKeown, who is leading the project, said the public is hungry for open Government and access to information.

Government published a discussion paper this summer which has proved remarkably popular, said Ms McKeown, who hopes the public will come to a meeting on the subject tomorrow.

She told : ?A lot of people have been picking it up, they ran out in Cabinet office and we had to refill.

?People have been calling up asking for them, but we haven?t had a whole lot of feedback with specific proposals. Generally people want more transparent Government.

?People are interested in having more access to Government information.?

Ms McKeown, a policy analyst for Government?s Central Policy Unit, has been in the UK and Ireland seeing how public access to information has been handled and has researched approaches taken in the States, Trinidad, Jamaica and Jersey.

But she has seen many a Government backtrack from the idea when the realities of sharing information have hit home.

Some countries took too long to implement legislation while some went too quickly, she said.

Britain implemented its law a full five years after it was first passed.

?There was a feeling among civil servants there wasn?t really the political will to abide by the legislation. They felt if the Prime Minister wasn?t supportive of it why should they (be)?

?We were given the view that the Government didn?t really have a choice because it had been on their platform for years.?

In Ireland, a coalition Government passed a law allowing Cabinet minutes to be released within five years ? not thinking they would still be in power when the law actually bit.

But just as the documents were about to be released the embargo was doubled.

High fees for obtaining documents and expensive appeals process have also taken the shine off good intentions in Ireland, said Ms McKeown.

Studying other jurisdictions has highlighted other pitfalls.

?In Ireland they decided charities which got certain amounts of money from Government would be covered.? But the charities did not want to divulge clients? information.

She said Bermuda was likely to stick to the 30-year embargo on releasing Cabinet papers while many other documents will be freed up.

And she believes Premier Alex Scott is serious in his intention to pass meaningful legislation.

?If he wasn?t, then it wouldn?t have been something he would have chosen to do. It was his decision.?

Asked what could be thrown open to public scrutiny, she said: ?Any initiative the Government spends money on.

?Not just how much things cost but, are we getting value for money?

?People want to know why decisions were made. What was the background information? What did you know, when did you know it?

?Contracts as well. If someone wins, someone else loses. People might want to know why they were unsuccessful.?

She conceded legislation might fall foul of Bermuda?s culture of secrecy.

?In Bermuda, perhaps because of our small size, sometimes people fear retribution, people want to know what you want the information for and what you are going to do with it. Is it going to come back to them?

?And the legislation won?t work if people don?t ask for information.?

In order to give the act teeth, it?s necessary for an independent Information Commissioner to have binding powers to force Government to come clean as well as produce reports, she said.

?In some places they don?t have binding powers to make recommendations. You really need teeth.

But in Ireland typical civil servant evasiveness has given way to openness in the years since legislation was passed.

?There has been a real cultural shift ? they know a story is going to be printed anyway so let?s make our information available.?

She said Bermuda could benefit from this approach.

?What happens in Bermuda is in the absence of any information people sometimes make things up. There is such a lot of speculation but some of that could be cleared up.?

Premier Scott is hosting a lunch today to get feedback from business leaders on what they want to see, while the public is invited to a meeting at St. Paul?s Church Hall, Hamilton tomorrow at 7 p.m.

Opposition MP Trevor Moniz last night said he feared the legislation would take years to see the light of day if Government is still consulting the public.

?I had the impression they were a bit closer,? he said. ?I am a little disappointed.?

He also said a tough independent office to implement the legislation is needed.

?It would be a waste of time and money if it is not going to have any teeth.?