Cabinet on Tuesday decided to recommend a suspension of the parking meter project amid fierce agitation by citizens over the exorbitant fees and lack of transparency in the drawing up of the contract between Smart City Solutions and the beleaguered Mayor and City Council.
Guyana Chronicle was told that the decision was inevitable as some weeks ago several members of Cabinet had been ready to vote to suspend the project. It is unclear what prompted Tuesday’s decision. Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan is to inform the M&CC of the government’s decision. Sources told this newspaper that the administration has not ruled out the project resuming but wants broader consultations and a thorough review of the contract.
Back in February the Alliance for Change (AFC) had called for the implementation of the project to be suspended until pertinent issues were addressed. The party had articulated its position in a statement to the media. “…with regard to the publicly expressed concerns, the party strongly implores the M&CC [Mayor and City Council] to suspend the implementation of this project…” the statement read. AFC said that it recognises the autonomy of the M&CC as the duly elected representatives of Georgetown and the M&CC’s legal right to regularise parking in Georgetown and raise revenue to better manage the affairs of the city.
However, the party is calling for the local government body to reconsider pertinent aspects of the Ministry of Finance’s review of the project and seek a second independent review of its contract with National Parking Systems (NPS)/Smart City Solutions (SCS) – the companies contracted to manage and operate the parking meters.
Two Mondays ago Justice Brassington Reynolds had rejected an application by Attorney-at-Law Kamal Ramkarran which sought to have the project put on hold until a substantive case, which is before Chief Justice (ag) Yonette Cummings-Edwards is completed. Last month, Justice Cummings-Edwards granted an ‘Order Nisi’ to quash the decision of the City Council and Town Clerk to enter into a contract with Smart City Solutions, unless they can give just cause why it should be so. The application was filed by Mahendra Arjune through his Attorney,Ramkarran.
Ramkarran had argued that the order granted by Justice Cummings-Edwards should have acted as a stay against the Mayor and City Council moving ahead with the parking meter project. However, when the matter came up last Monday, Justice Reynolds told the Court that Order of Rule Nisi is not a stay of the proceeding, and as such the application to have interim relief from the parking meter project was rejected.
However, the substantive matter will continue on March 20. In the substantive case, Arjune, through his lawyer Ramkarran,is challenging the legality of the contract signed between the Municipality and Smart City Solutions. Last Thursday, Justice Reynolds ruled that the case will proceed after the Town Clerk, Royston King, through his attorney Roger Yearwood, on February 27. 2017, had filed a jurisdiction application questioning whether the case filed by Ramkarran on behalf of Arjune for the project to be quashed, could be heard in the High Court under the new Civil Procedures rules. The contract gave the company exclusive rights to conduct paid public parking within Georgetown and includes the installation of parking meters. But the project has attracted a lot of controversy and public debate with members of civil society calling for the terms and conditions of the venture to be rescinded.
Only last week protesters decked in black and white costumes amused the sizeable crowd which was gathered in front of City Hall by “mourning” the death of parking meters. Though the act created a high level of amusement, the protestors were vocal in their call for the Mayor and City Council (M&CC), Smart City Solutions (SCS) parking meter project be cancelled. The display was done with the use of cardboard replicas of caskets which held mock-ups of parking meters, the project’s by-laws and City Hall.
Persons walked in circles with the caskets chanting, “You were never good” and “If only you could tell us where is the money.” The protestors are calling on the M&CC to allow the relevant authorities to conduct a forensic audit into the Council’s operations. “We will continue to protest until we get justice… the parking meter project must be revoked because Guyana’s economy is not ready for such a step,” said one of the protestors. Protests have been ongoing for over a month and protestors have again proven that they will not rest until their cries are heeded by the M&CC. At one point, the M&CC had resorted to consultations on the metered parking system with the hope of meeting the demands of the protestors. But the negotiations ended with no “significant” changes made.