Premier Ewart Brown has issued a final call for citizens to comment on Government's draft freedom of information law.

Twenty-four submissions have so far been sent to the Cabinet Office on the proposed Public Access to Information (PATI) bill — and Dr. Brown said last night he hoped as many people as possible would give feedback before Monday's deadline.

He told The Royal Gazette: "My Government is committed to openness and transparency. Public Access to Information legislation will be a visible demonstration of those values.

"This legislation is for the people of Bermuda. My Government — in reality, your Government — wants to ensure that we hear from as many people as possible with their ideas about how to make sure that the PATI legislation works for all of us.

"I encourage you to review the proposed law and send in your comments. We want to hear from you."

The Government first promised PATI in 2003 and issued a discussion paper two years later. Hundreds of people requested copies of the document but the public consultation only resulted in about five written responses.

The issue of transparency and open government has gained a higher profile in the last two years — with this newspaper launching its A Right To Know: Giving People Power campaign in January 2008 and getting much support from our readers.

The Premier has repeatedly said since the campaign was launched that Government would stick to its promise on PATI. On October 15 this year, he unveiled the draft bill, telling the public in a televised speech: "My hope is that your feedback will be provided in time for us to table this bill in the House [of Assembly] during the upcoming parliamentary session."

The proposed legislation was welcomed by many on the Island and abroad — but commentators, including global rights organisation Article 19 and former Premier Alex Scott, urged Government to rethink its lack of retroactivity.

Mr. Scott told this newspaper it would "make a nonsense of the whole exercise" if the law didn't apply to all government-held records — not just those created after PATI goes on the statute books. No deadline was originally given for submissions on the draft bill, but a little over a week ago it was announced that November 30 was the date by which they had to be received.

By November 16, only three submissions had been sent to Cabinet. FOI expert Carole Excell, who helped set up freedom of information in the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, told this newspaper that 100 people in Cayman gave their thoughts on the law there before it went before MPs.

It is thought that the final version of Bermuda's PATI legislation will not be tabled in Parliament until the New Year — after the Cabinet Office has had time to sift through the public's responses.

• The draft bill can be found at www.gov.bm. Submissions should be E-mailed to pati@gov.bm or delivered to the Cabinet Office before the end of Monday.