The Royal Gazette yesterday failed to gain access — on your behalf — to two meetings being held behind closed doors by publicly funded bodies.

As part of our A Right to Know: Giving People Power campaign, which calls for transparency and accountability, we attempted to get the Corporation of Hamilton and Bermuda Hospitals Board to open up their meetings to the public.

Neither allowed us in — despite the fact that taxpayers' cash is used to fund both organisations and that key decisions affecting the people are taken at their regular meetings.

The Corporation was due to meet at 12.30 p.m. in the Mayor's Parlour at City Hall. We arrived at 12.20 p.m. and asked if we could attend.

Corporation Secretary Kelly Miller spoke to Mayor Sutherland Madeiros and advised us that he was too busy dealing with the industrial dispute which has led to two staff walkouts in the space of a week to deal with our request.

We asked that the Corporation members — elected every three years by the public — consider opening up their twice-monthly meetings in future. Mr. Madeiros told us later over the telephone that he would discuss our concerns with us later in the week but had his hands full at the moment.

Later in the day, we were thwarted again when we tried to gain access to the monthly Bermuda Hospitals Board meeting. A BHB spokeswoman had confirmed the meeting would take place yesterday, but declined to reveal the time and venue, saying she wanted to protect BHB's members, who are volunteers.

This newspaper was tipped off by a former BHB member that meetings take place in the fifth floor boardroom at 4 p.m. However, we arrived shortly before that time to be told by hospital staff that the meeting was taking place elsewhere. When we asked where, we were told to contact the press office. Yesterday, the spokeswoman pledged to ask the board whether the public would be able to attend future BHB meetings.

• What do you think? Should yesterday's meetings have been opened up to the public and should they be in future? E-mail arighttoknow@royalgazette.bm or call 278-8359 or 278-0155.