… citizens shun new parking meters system

CITIZENS on Tuesday largely shunned the paid parking meters system and though dozens of

vehicles were on Tuesday morning observed occupying parking meter slots, many of them did not have a payment receipt on the dashboard.

Persons simply parked as normal, for those who could not find empty spaces or did not bother about the system. For example, at roughly 10:20 am, in excess of 20 vehicles were parked near the New Building Society (NBS) and none of them bore any payment receipts. The same situation existed on Main, Church, Regent and Robb Streets.

The Chronicle spoke with individuals who were parked in some of the vehicles and most of them said they were just going to remain stationed for a few minutes while other passengers went to run an errand.

Others said they had no idea where to obtain the prepaid parking cards, and yet others took advantage of the fact that Smart City Solutions (SCS) said they will not be carrying out any enforcement for a few days.

However, Public Relations Consultant for SCS, Mr. Kit Nascimento, told this newspaper on Tuesday that it is untrue that the meter company will be granting an entire two weeks free of enforcement, as had been peddled in the media recently. In fact, he said “very shortly,” action will be taken against those who refuse to pay.

Complaining mostly on the streets yesterday morning were taxi drivers, who are adamant that they need to be granted some form of concession.

A group of them, most of whom have been plying the trade for more than 30 years, told Chronicle in front of Guyana Stores Limited that they have no idea what approach they will

take in order to meet the new costs. For instance, if a customer hires a taxi for one hour and needs to make several stops, the driver is not sure if he will attach the parking costs to the customer or if he will bear it himself. If he chooses the latter option, then, “What really I wukkin fuh?” one taxi driver lamented.

When contacted on the issue, Nascimento offered that while SCS is willing to offer packages to various groups, the taxi drivers have not yet approached the company.

But the drivers claimed that when they visited SCS office yesterday, it was closed.

Meanwhile, the Guyana Chronicle observed yesterday that many drivers have opted to park outside of the parking meter zones. For example, on Main Street, vehicles occupied most spaces between Quamina and Lamaha Streets, while parking spaces between Quamina and Church Streets mostly remained empty.

The parking meters were installed between Water and Camp Streets, Brickdam to Quamina Street. The second phase of the meter project, though, will see an extension of the boundaries from Camp Street to Vlissengen Road, and from Brickdam to Lamaha Street.

Just last Monday, Communities Minister, Ronald Bulkan, approved the parking meter by-laws by affixing his signature to them, and, as promised, immediately dispatched the document to Mayor Patricia Chase-Green. Because the by-laws were not signed, the project could not be rolled out on Monday as was announced.

Prepaid parking cards are said to be available at over 100 places, including pharmacies, gas stations, MoneyGram offices, post offices and the City Hall itself. The intention is for them to become as available as phone cards are.

The cards will be available in $500, $2,500, $5,000 and $10,000 denominations. The $5000 card will carry a one-hour free parking bonus, and the $10,000 card will carry a two-and-a-half hours free parking.