DESPITE a High Court order, employees of Smart City Solutions (SCS) proceeded to clamp the wheels of vehicles on Wednesday which were in breach of the parking by-laws.Despite being served two court orders requesting them to show why the project should not be scrapped, the Council and SCS still went ahead to penalise persons. The SCS officials were seen clamping vehicles parked on Regent and Robb streets.
One of the SCS employees, when asked if the system is back in operation, said yes and added that they were given an order by management to proceed with applying the penalties.
Efforts to contact a senior official of SCS to confirm this proved futile. Meanwhile, at a recent news conference Friday inside the studios of the National Communications Network (NCN), Homestretch Avenue, hosted by M&CC and Smart City Solutions (SCS), it was announced that the slash in the price for parking is meant to benefit only those who are parking for eight hours or more. Thus, the cost per hour remains at $200 plus VAT.
The penalties for breaching the parking by-laws remain the same, meaning persons whose vehicles are clamped will be required to pay a fine of $7,500.
Two court actions were brought against the parking meters: the first was brought by the New Building Society against Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan and the Georgetown Town Clerk, Royston King.
The minister must defend his approval of the parking meter by-laws, and show why those by-laws should not be quashed by the court. The second court action was brought by private citizen, Mahendra Arjune, against the Georgetown Town Clerk and Georgetown Mayor. That matter is set to come up next Monday.