MINISTER of Communities Ronald Bulkan, has urged the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) not to surrender their responsibility of managing the city but craft a new parking meter contract that will give them full control of their operations.
At a discussion with the Council’s negotiation team chaired by Councillor Malcolm Ferreira on Thursday, the minister said City Hall must not surrender its “monopoly” to an independent body.
The controversial project managed by a Mexican company, Smart City Solutions (SCS) was “riddled” with unmanageable tariffs, high penalties and issues with meters being placed in front of schools, hospitals and public roads.
“Cabinet decided to suspend the project after deliberating on the matter and viewed the fact that there were significant vocal resistance and rejections to the initiative because of the many issues,” Bulkan said.
Added to the direct liabilities of the project, it was pointed out that negotiation of the initial contract was not transparent and a fresh approach by an elected body will give the project more credibility.
“A wider make-up of the Council without the original negotiators will generate a lot of public acceptance, because they are entering into a democratic process,” stated Minister Bulkan.
Members of the negotiation team were urged to “start from scratch” and do not consider themselves bounded by the original contract.
The M&CC should take pride and ownership in the contract, Bulkan said, adding that in future, “if or when” a new contract is crafted enough members would have been involved in the negotiations and will be able to defend the project.
Though they have the green-light to go ahead with their discussions, members of the team were told to be prudent and make sure that the new contract will take the concerns of the public and the Government into consideration.
This raised questions as to whether the contract must be crafted to the liking of the Government before it is implemented.
BEST FINANCIAL RETURNS
In response, Bulkan confirmed that the Government must accept the terms of the contract before it is implemented; however, he said the M&CC must be able to get the best financial returns from the project.
According to the original contract, the Council would collect 20 per cent of the profits from SCS. The rates for parking were $28 VAT inclusive for 15 minutes or about $100 per hour.
In the new contract, though the fees are expected to be revised, Bulkan reiterated that City Hall must benefit from the revenue they gain.
“Council has a free hand to look at this thing at new lengths but, at the end of the day [the] majority of the Council has to be convinced that there is a contract that will benefit the public and City Hall,” the minister said.
Bulkan offered the group to have the time for negotiations extended, given that they continuously produce fruitful results.
The team was charged with bringing order back to the streets, because there is too much “lawlessness and chaos,” he said.
“I am in support of the idea of paid parking, but the current issues need to be addressed and councillors need to remember that they have other areas to look at as well, such as buildings and zoning,” stated Minister Bulkan, who said they are empowered under the law to execute their mandate.
The metered-parking project was suspended in March for three months to fix a number of problems. The team chaired by Ferreira has been appointed to fix those problems.
Other members of the team are Vice-Chair Noelle Chow-Chee, Carlyle Goring, Tricia Richards, Ivelaw Henry, Roopnarine ‘Ron’ Persaud and Heston Bostwick.