THE Mayor and City Council (M&CC) Wednesday declared than when the parking meter system comes into effect, citizens will be asked to pay “way less” that $500 per hour. 

The M&CC is angry that some news entities continue to feed the public that parking will cost $125 per rotation, and hence $500 per hour.
“It is already counterproductive when the Council has to deal with internal differences that cannot be contained within the walls of the Council Chamber. It is, however, back-breaking to undo the damage caused by misinformation and thus [we are asking] media houses to be mindful of the information they feed the public. You must remember that your reporting has a great effect on the reaction of citizens and contributes immensely toward the positive or negative movement of this country,” a statement from City Hall said on Wednesday.
The M&CC said it is unfortunate that dissatisfaction within the Council circle would have led stakeholders to publicly air their concerns, rather than speak within the membership of the municipal body.
“This has forced unwarranted public concern and created a media frenzy that persists with incorrect information. Before clarifications were sought from the municipality about utterances on the parking meter issue, speculations and unsupported statements were being made to the country, including the G$500 an hour parking fee that the media continue to feed the public.
“The Council wishes to state clearly that G$500 will not be the cost of parking in the city. Her Lordship Mayor Patricia Chase-Green as well as the city’s Chief Executive Officer, Town Clerk Royston King, have stated repeatedly that discussions are ongoing with the facilitator of the parking meter project and so far, it can confidently be stated that parking will cost citizens way less that G$500 per hour,” the statement continued.
M&CC said it understands that a meter project may not be in favour of all sectors of the city, but that it must be recognised that the decision to implement parking meters has long been on the slate for Georgetown.
“We understand, too, that persons are concerned that paid parking is an added expense, but for the benefit of our capital and country at large, the Council recognises the need to increase revenue to fulfil the functions of the city and at the same time, keeping the pockets of the people in mind.
“There are numerous benefits to adding parking meters, for instance, the immediate change in the city’s landscape. The vision this municipality has for Georgetown is a clean, green and well organised city. As we have stated before, this change requires change in attitudes and behaviours.”