PUBLIC scrutiny and comment on the new set of by-laws governing the controversial parking meter project will come to an end this Friday, Town Clerk Royston King disclosed on Wednesday.

Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan has confirmed that the new by-laws have not been sent to his ministry just yet, with the Town Clerk explaining that such action cannot yet be taken until the by-laws are ‘properly processed.’

So far, King said the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) is in receipt of comments made on the by-laws by the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), along with another organisation, and that after Friday, all such information will be forwarded to Bulkan as the law requires.

During last Monday’s statutory meeting at City Hall, the City Council took a decision to authorise that the terms and conditions of the ‘second amendment’ which were originally approved by the M&CC last January 17 and executed contractually on February 14, be re-executed to extend the period of their validity.

“The matter was brought up during the meeting of May 14, 2018 since the Second Amendment to the Georgetown Metered Parking Concession Agreement required that complementary By-Laws take effect within a certain period of time as a condition to the validity of the Second Amendment.

This period of time was due to lapse since the M&CC has given extra time for public review of, and comment to, the 2018 Georgetown Metered Parking By-Laws,” M&CC explained in a statement.
“More time was thus also required to be allowed for the pendency of the Second Amendment to the 2018 By-Laws in order to avoid that the Georgetown Metered Parking Concession Agreement reverts to terms and conditions absent in the Second Amendment, which, among other things, would mean higher parking tariffs, higher immobilisation fees, paying for parking spaces rather than parking time, and the negation of other terms and conditions desired to be amended by the M&CC, based on its consultations with the public and its review of the Concession Agreement,” the statement added.

Leader of the Opposition, Bharat Jagdeo on Wednesday said he is against the reimplementation of the parking meter project with Smart City Solutions (SCS), noting that if it is to be reintroduced by the Mayor and City Council (M&CC), they should look at a new service provider and a new contract.

“If they want to do it, they should start a new contract with a new service provider but I believe that there are other ways the city could raise money by doing simple things; they should look at introducing the stickers like I had suggested before,” said Jagdeo during a press briefing in his Church Street office on Wednesday.

The opposition leader said the renegotiation of the contract with SCS will not be accepted since the company is involved in several controversies.
Just recently, the GCCI had said that it wanted to review the new set of by-laws so that “troublesome” sections can be dealt with and brought to the attention of authorities. “We have to get our experts to go through these areas that we believe are not good for the city,” GCCI president Deodat Indar, had told a news conference.

Indar had pointed out that during a number of walkabouts in the city the GCCI was shocked to learn that business had declined by some 30 to 70 per cent. “So we want to make sure we do as much as we can to serve our members,” he said.

Marcel Gaskin, a member of the Movement against Parking Meters (APM) had said it seemed the passing of the new set of by-laws was an attempt by the M&CC to correct flawed procedures. He reiterated that the MAPM is not against installing parking meters in the city, but rather the manner in which it was foisted upon citizens.

Last February, the GCCI joined calls for the revocation of the meter contract, and said it believes that the business community and other stakeholders should maintain their protest efforts until the desired outcome is achieved.
In a statement, the GCCI said it is “irresponsible” for the City Council to continue with the metered system, due to a lack of transparency during the implementation process, a lack of adherence to public procurement procedures and the absence of feasibility studies and citizen consultations.

“The M&CC should remember that one of the most important qualities that citizens seek in elected officials is transparency, and any attempts to bulldoze the populace with opaque contracts will not garner support, especially not from the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce,” the GCCI said.

The Chamber said it has received numerous complaints from its membership regarding the metered system and its negative effect on customer traffic and sales, and was concerned that conditions will worsen if the system remains in operation.

The Chamber also said it supports the M&CC’s efforts to engage in public-private partnerships for the purpose of raising revenue for the city, but will not support the flawed and, in some cases, potentially illegal methods that the City Council has employed.