The entire Belize Constitution, four thousand press releases, and just about every thing you ever wanted to know about government but never knew or never knew where to find is now available online. The government's website is nothing new, it's been operational for years but today the Office of Governance launched the platform which will combine information from all government websites into one and it is called "the Government of Belize website portal." We logged on today.
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"The cost cutting nature of technology today provides opportunities and enables delivery of much needed economic and social information more efficient, while transcending distances to provide wider and broader access."
And to meet that demand of greater access - this morning Prime Minister Said Musa launched what's called the Government of Belize's website portal. Musa says this is part of the era of E-Government.
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"The launch of a website portal is yet further development in the area of e-government through accessibility to organized information. The website portal is a GOB information system as it is gateway to all government information. It will provide information on government's business, policies, initiatives, news, laws of Belize, and public service regulations."
The clearinghouse for all that information is the Office of Governance. Michelle Longsworth heads the office's E-government Unit. To put it simply, she says the portal is a gateway to government information - from the Constitution to Customs.
Michelle Longsworth,
"It is like a one stop entry to all government agencies, information for all government agencies. It is like if you want information from the Customs you would have had to be searching for a Customs webpage or if you want information for GST you would search a GST webpage. What this offers is that you go to this site and listed on that site under government business, you will find a listing for every Ministry or every agency within government."
Keith Swift,
Who will be managing all of this? Will that be your job?
Michelle Longsworth,
"Basically I would say yes it would be managed by the Office of Governance."
With the exception of the intranet - which will be limited to government officials - the site and information on it is available to everyone who has a computer and internet access. It's government on your desktop and Governance Office Director Myrtle Palacio says it doesn't get any better.
Myrtle Palacio,
"As you know knowledge is power and in terms of good governance, in terms of accountability, and in terms of transparency, we should bring out to our stakeholders what is happening within government."
Of course this government and Prime Minister now embracing e-government and the transparency it touts has a dodgy record when it comes to secret contracts. Well even in the era of E-Government, Musa says there will be some government secrets best kept as secrets.
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"It is healthy to have access to this information because the more a person is informed, the more he can make informed decisions and get away from irresponsible statements being made, whether in the media or otherwise, because a lot of the disinformation comes about because of ignorance and there is a need for us to inform the public."
Keith Swift,
So does that mean an end to the secret contracts? Everything will be open and transparent?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"Well no, a government can't operate without having a level of confidentiality but of course whenever there is a contract that affects the public, the information has to be given out and that is how we have been operating."
You can log on to government's portal at http://www.belize.gov.bz or http://belize.gov.bz..
