With much debate today, the 2023 Data Protection Bill went through hectic rigours of argument in the House of Representatives, before being passed after 5-and-a-half hours.
In the initial stages, the Bill was presented for first reading, and the Government’s side moved a motion to take it through all its stages, which provoked the first round of debate and subsequently a 9-5 vote in favour of the government’s side.
There were calls by the opposition for the need to have greater consultation, instead of taking the bill all the way.
The Leader of the Opposition, Dr. Keith Mitchell, believes the society must be allowed to have its say, since there are tenets in the Bill that contravenes constitutional freedoms. He was supported by other members on the opposition side, MP’s Peter David and Dr. Clarice Modeste.
It’s been revealed, that the Bill has been in the making with successive governments since 2011,coming as a draft OECS harmonized arrangement in which consultation was added to the process.
Prime Minister, Dickon Mitchell, spoke of the necessity for the Bill and not what he termed the “hue and cry”.
Opposition MP, Emmalin Pierre, made an appeal only for the first reading and to take the consultation to the people, due to fears on both sides of the political spectrum.
