The following are excerpts of last week's sectoral presentation to Parliament by the Minister of Information and Telecommunications Daryl Vaz.

We are still to address the matter of the Access to Information (ATI) regime and the Official Secrets Act. The Honourable House is reminded that there is a mandatory provision for review of the ATI Act and a major priority for the administration in this fiscal year is to complete the process so that we can strengthen its provisions.

While the legislative work continues, the Access to Information Unit remains busy in assessing its operations to increase its effectiveness in serving its stakeholders. The ATI Unit is seeking to implement mechanisms to allow for real-time monitoring and tracking of requests made of public authorities. I am happy to report that the ATI Unit has secured grant funding of US$380,000 to support their efforts.

Content Standards

In February of this year, the Broadcasting Commission took decisive steps to improve the quality of content transmitted by Jamaica's electronic media through its 'directives' prohibiting the transmission of songs concerning the practice of open and violent sexual simulation and associated recordings ('daggering') and requiring licensees to refrain from transmitting songs which contain editing methods of bleeps and beeps. The directives also contain prohibitions against transmitting lyrics promoting murder, acts of violence, glorifying the gun and presenting violent and sexually explicit lyrics in soca, hip hop and all other genres of music.

Though the subject of extensive public debates, by and large, there has been strong public and industry support. We are beginning to see a noticeable improvement in the 'on-air' quality and improved internal systems of control within broadcasting institutions. These measures are to be followed up by amendments to the Regulations and the Act.

The commission is to be commended for introducing a citizen-based media monitoring programme as a sequel to these directives. We now have volunteers across the island helping to monitor television and radio output islandwide. The public response has been outstanding with participants from a wide demographic, social and geographical spread. The process of regulating the standards of media output is ongoing.

I must also say that the concerns communicated to me with respect to the management of problematic material are not limited to audio - there is engagement around content offered on cable, television, the cinema and other media. Let me thank the Cinematograph Authority for its service to the people of Jamaica and to articulate the Government's continued commitment to align standards across the board and in the interest of the broader society.

I must ask the Parliament to join with me in acknowledging the significant contribution the Creative Productions and Training Centre has made over the last 25 years of their existence, to the preservation of culture and the documentation of our national heritage. Their CTV Channel, along with that of the Public Broadcasting Corporation Jamaica (BCBJ), continues to offer material which presents, to particularly the younger generation, some of the rich music which the older ones of us probably took for granted and affords exposure to our proud history and achievements. Of course, the PBCJ also has something to do with the fact that our constituents can see live how well their elected officials are representing their interest in this Honourable House.