As a public authority, the Department of Agriculture is committed to transparency and serving the public interest in compliance with the Freedom of Information Law, (2020 Revision).
All requests should be directed to the Information Manager (IM), Patricia Howard-Muschette. You can contact the IM by either calling, emailing, visiting the public authority; or by using the standard FOI Request Form.
Access to information promotes governmental accountability, transparency, and public participation in national decision-making. The Freedom of Information Law (2020 Revision) reinforces and gives further effect to these fundamental principles underlying the system of constitutional democracy by granting to the public a general right of access to records held by the Department of Agriculture.
Freedom of Information is an essential human right enshrined in our Constitution. The Freedom of Information (FOI) Law was first enacted in the Cayman Islands in 2007 and came into force on 5 January 2009.
Many other laws and administrative procedures allow you to access information and records from the Cayman Islands Government, including your own personal information. Sometimes you must make a formal application and supply specific details (e.g. a police report), pay a fee (e.g. a birth certificate), or access the information in a specific way (e.g. inspection of a public register). It is also possible that the information you are seeking is available from a public authority in the normal course of business and you do not need to make a formal FOI request.
The FOI Law supplements other methods of access to information by encouraging proactive publication and granting you the right to request records that are not otherwise available to you.
We want to help you find what you are interested in. Before making an FOI request, we encourage you to look at our publications to see if the information you are seeking has already been published. If you can’t find what you are looking for, anyone, of any age, anywhere in the world can make an FOI request directly to a public authority.
Each Ministry, Portfolio, Office, Department, Statutory Authority and Government Company (together, “public authorities”) has a designated Information Manager and FOI email address to receive and process requests for information.
View the list of public authorities and their contact details for FOI requests here.
FOI requests must be in writing and do not need to include a reason. While you must include a name and contact details, unless you are seeking your own personal information an alias can be used.
The FOI Law applies to records held by the Department of Agriculture, which are information in any form – including documents, maps, plans, graphs or drawings, photographs, and audio or video recordings. While you might not know exactly what records are relevant to your request, please be as specific as possible about the information you are seeking, as this will help you get a prompt response.
There is no application fee and you will never be charged to inspect records. However, you may be required to pay copying or change of format fees before accessing information in certain ways. There is also a CI$50 fee for expedited service, which is payable when you make your application. The Information Manager in the relevant public authority will help you to understand if any fees apply to your request.
The Ombudsman is the independent oversight body for FOI in the Cayman Islands. Among other duties, the quasi-judicial Office of the Ombudsman promotes general awareness of the FOI Law, handles complaints and appeals, monitors and reports on compliance, and makes general or specific recommendations for reform.
You can learn more about FOI and the Ombudsman’s role at ombudsman.ky/foi.
The Information Rights Unit within the Cabinet Office coordinates support for Information Managers and other public servants, providing training and guidance in relation to FOI and Data Protection. The team also promotes best practice within public authorities and develops policies, tools and procedures for effective implementation of information rights legislation.
If you are a public servant and want to learn more about your responsibilities under the FOI Law, please email InformationRights@gov.ky.
181 Lottery Road,
Lower Valley, Bodden Town,
Grand Cayman
agriculture@gov.ky
+(345) 947-3090
Mon-Fri - 8:30am until 5pm
