Statements
Each
public authority is required to publish three statements, in accordance
with Sections 7, 8 and 9 of the Act. Each statement must include the following
information:
Statement 1 (Section 7)
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The purpose, structure and functions of the authority
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The impact of the work of the authority on members of the public
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How can (and do) members of the public participate in the decision making
processes of the authority
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A list of the categories of documents that the authority holds
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A list of all the published material that members of the public may look at or
purchase, or for which they may subscribe. The statement must also describe
where any individual may inspect or purchase this material.
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The procedure for making an FOIA request to the authority. This should describe
all the required steps - from filling out and addressing the form, to the type
of information it must provide; as well as the obligations of the authority in
processing your request.
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The name and contact information for the authority's
designated officer and alternate.
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A list of all the authority's advisory boards, councils and committees, whose
meetings or minutes of meetings are open to public scrutiny.
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A description of any reading room or library facility (such as its address and
other contact information; and opening hours) that the authority maintains and
makes available for public use.
Statement 2 (Section 8)
A description of those documents that guide the employees of the public
authority in doing their work, such as,
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Operational manuals
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Rules of procedure
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Operating policy documents
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Instructional documents
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Handbooks
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Any other documents that contain rules, guidelines, policies, precedents, or
interpretations of written laws, as these affect the work of the authority.
Statement 3 (Section 9)
A complete list of certain types of documents (detailed in Section 9) created
after the commencement of the Act on February 20, 2001.
These statements must be published in the Trinidad and Tobago Gazette, and in
one daily newspaper. All three statements for any particular public authority
are likely to be published together and appear as one document. If you have not
seen the statements for the public authority that you believe holds the
information you want, you should contact its offices directly to find out where
you can look at this document.
You can find out whether the type of information you require is held by the
public authority, by examining these statements. If the specific document you
want is not listed as available for inspection, purchase or subscription, then
it has not been placed in the
public domain. You may make an application for access to any of those
documents that are not in the public domain by filling out a Request for Access
to Official Document(s) form and submitting it to the authority's designated
officer.
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