By Telesha Ramnarine

COUNCILLORS Alfred Mentore and Lionel Hanoman Jaikaran have voiced their intention to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Deputy Mayor Sherod Avery Duncan to bring about a change in the way business is conducted by the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown (M&CC).The councillors were responding to a statement that acting Mayor Duncan posted on his Facebook page on Thursday, rejecting a statement that Town Clerk Royston King penned from Mexico on the controversial parking meters’ issue.

“To question the status quo and business as usual is gutsy! I stand by you, as councillor, to bring about the necessary changes in the way business is done at City Hall. Transparency, accountability, good governance and a fresh approach are the pillars the coalition Government stands on, and are our guiding principles. Nothing else is acceptable and will be tolerated!” Councillor Mentore stated.

On his part, Councillor Jaikaran said: “I stand shoulder to shoulder with you, my friend, in voicing my dissatisfaction with the way in which the parking meter issue was forced upon the present Council — without discussion and consultation with other relevant stakeholders, who deserved to have had an input in the decision making process.”

The Deputy Mayor had said he was stumped by the recent letter from King on the parking meter contract with National Parking System/Smart City Solutions.

“Georgetown is not just the Capital City of Region Four; it is the Capital of Guyana. It is a City, like a light set on a hill, it cannot be hidden. It is the oldest and largest municipality in our country, and the seat of the Government.

“Our work, our processes, our systems are held up as an example to other municipalities, and thus it behooves us to be cognisant of the great responsibility we have, and of the high standard to which we must hold ourselves.

“It would require a willful suspension of belief, in light of the incontrovertible facts that not only my research has produced, but which every major newspaper in our country has corroborated and expanded on, that this contract can move Georgetown forward,” Duncan said.

Duncan said King’s statement goes against the sentiments of every “reasonable, right thinking” Guyanese and the mood of the majority of City Councillors.

“It is the collective Council which sets policy for the municipality; legislates through the provision of by-laws, and provides oversight to projects. The majority of our municipality sent us to the august house of City Hall, not to continue on the old tenor of business as usual. It is the people’s business that we transact, and not what is in our own personal interest. This is why I stand against this arrangement, because all the processes leading to and emanating from this contentious contract have been weighed and found wanting”, Duncan has said.

Duncan said no Guyanese with the courage of their conviction would think this “murky” and shrouded contract is good business.

“I am guided by the law; by the regime of legislation which governs the Local Government, Chapter 28:01-28:09; and I am guided by the entire Constitution,” Duncan said.