Last week in class, I asked the students if anyone had ever filed an Access to Information Request with the government. No hands raised. I told them a little bit about my experience with the system. It was mixed. For some requests, the response was speedy. For another group of requests, I have yet to have a response from almost two years ago. This is in contravention with the 30-day law, via the Access to Information Act.

I encouraged the students to file requests, although most said they did not know how. One student pointed out that people don’t really know or understand much about this fundamental right. In this light, Jamaicans for Justice has made this short clip about Access to Information in JA. Check it out.