The Progressive Labour Party made a pledge to voters in 1998 before sweeping to power in a historic General Election.

The party's manifesto said: "Accountability and transparency will be the underlying credo for the priorities, principles and policies of a PLP Government."

The party's 2003 platform told the electorate it wanted to build a country "where government continues to operate in the sunshine of public scrutiny".

The way to do that — as scores of countries around the world, including small territories such as Cayman and the British Virgin Islands, have demonstrated — is to introduce freedom of information or right to know legislation.

Such a law would give members of the public the legal right to information held by government departments and other public authorities.

Government could then keep information secret only if it could prove that its disclosure would damage defence, law enforcement, personal privacy or other specified interests.

After nine years in power, the PLP has yet to table such a bill in parliament though it has promised to do so.

The party's 2007 election manifesto makes no mention of it but Premier Ewart Brown told this newspaper earlier this month — in response to questions for this article — that a Public Access to Information (PATI) bill would be kept "in play" if the PLP wins the General Election.

The United Bermuda Party, in its Agenda for Change platform, has promised immediate action. It pledges to "guarantee public access to public information by implementing straight away a Freedom of Information Act."

Shadow Attorney General John Barritt, in a recent speech on good governance, cited three instances where transparency and greater scrutiny of government — particularly through a more powerful Public Accounts Committee — would have shone a light on how taxpayers' money was being spent.

He said the public deserved to know why $8 million remained unaccounted for at Bermuda Housing Corporation, why the new Berkeley Institute went more than $50 million over budget and the outcome of the Government's arbitration with the contractor originally hired for the job and why the Sylvia Richardson rest home cost more than double what it was expected to.

Mr. Barritt added that accountability "flows from transparency" and that freedom of information legislation was "long overdue".

Accountability merits two mentions in Patterns of Progress, the PLP's 2007 PLP platform.

Integrity and accountability in public life is listed as a national objective and more accountability in education is promised.

The word transparency is not used in the glossy, 48-page Patterns of Progress. But the manifesto cites the introduction of e-government as having increased "public access".

Internet users can now check limited information held by many different departments, including the status of planning applications, and fill out official forms and apply for licences online.

But much information remains unavailable through either new or traditional channels.

Journalists at this newspaper — whose job is to hold government to account and obtain information on behalf of the public — can testify to the difficulty they regularly have in getting information, including basic facts and figures, from Government (see separate panel).

Two years ago that appeared to be about to change when then-Premier Alex Scott brought a take note motion on a PATI Discussion Paper to the House of Assembly.

He told MPs in December 2005: "Government has not been seen to be as open as the public wants.

"It was once hard to find, get and share information but that is all about to come to an end. We will now work to open up Government."

So has that been abandoned under Dr. Brown? He told us: "I support legislation which grants the public the right to access public information.

"Our record will show that PATI legislation is something we have previously examined and we plan to keep it in play during our next term."

But he added a caveat. "As it relates to law and order records, careful consultation and coordination with the Governor's Office is necessary because the Governor controls the Police and much of the judiciary — organisations that keep large volumes of information.

"There are key issues to discuss when determining the distribution of such information: the line of demarcation between what should be open to the public and what should not be, the procedures for releasing information — such as age of files and whether they involve the details of private citizens, and the modality of release — should it be hard copy only or in electronic form.

"These are the sort of details that would need to be responsibly ironed out on the path to new Freedom of Information legislation."

Government has not yet been opened up but policy analyst Kimberley McKeown, at Government's Central Policy Unit, said instructions to draft the PATI legislation were still with the Attorney-General's Chambers. "Discussions are continuing on an ongoing basis to advance this initiative including an examination of all relevant legislation," she said.

Ms McKeown said other initiatives to increase the public's access to information were at various stages of implementation including Government television, the At Your Service radio show and "discussions on how to ensure greater and easier physical and electronic access to all government publications, papers and legislation".

Mr. Barritt said colleagues regularly told him that the topic of good governance was not a vote winner but he stressed that it had immense relevance to the average man or woman who pays their taxes.

"It's important to follow the money and expenditure needs to be subject to a tighter check and rein," he said.

"This may not serve the Progressive Labour Party's best interests right now; it may not serve the United Bermuda Party's best interests. But whose interests will be best served? The people of this country."