COMMUNITIES Minister Ronald Bulkan said he wants to convene an initial meeting with the sub-committee formed recently to look into the controversial parking meter project.
Bulkan told the Guyana Chronicle, in an invited comment, that he is hoping that this meeting will take place in two weeks’ time.

Just last Monday, Town Clerk Royston King told reporters he was confident that the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) will hear from Cabinet very soon on the way forward. He said he understood that Cabinet was taking its time in examining every aspect of the project.
Cabinet has so far discussed the request by the M&CC to peruse the new set of by-laws that was forwarded to the ministry for Bulkan’s signature.

According to the minister, Cabinet subsequently made a decision to establish a sub-committee comprising the Ministries of Communities, Finance, Public Infrastructure, Business, and Legal Affairs to look at the by-laws.

The committee is tasked with discussing the concerns raised by central government, the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) and other agencies, and then to bring a recommendation back to Cabinet. No timeframe for coming up with a recommendation was fixed.

“It is a project that is clearly needed on our streets,” the town clerk had told this publication, as he noted that the M&CC was not even entertaining the thought that the new set of by-laws will be rejected. “We’re not thinking that; we remain very optimistic.”
King maintained that the new rate, being $150 per hour and VAT inclusive, is reasonable and noted that the figures cannot be set too low, so that nothing will change in relation to the traffic congestion on the streets.

SIGNIFICANT DROP
The significant drop in the fee from $500 per hour was among agreements reached with Smart City Solutions – the foreign company given the concession to install parking meters in Georgetown – based on recommendations proposed by a special committee and approved by the council.

In the final report submitted by the Parking Meter Renegotiation Committee (PMRC) and chaired by now Deputy Mayor Akeem Peter, it was explained that following the abrupt end of the project which was initiated in May 2016 by way of a contractual agreement, a special committee convened by the council had made four recommendations, but only one group of recommendations was approved. That committee was led by Councillor Malcolm Ferreira.
While that special committee recommended that the metered parking system with Smart City Solutions be continued, it did not make any recommendation for the continuance of the contract in its original form.

The PMRC was then formed and tasked with renegotiating the contract, based on the single group of recommendations.

According to the final report, the renegotiation committee held 15 meetings, of which three were exclusive negotiations. Based on those negotiations, the committee and Smart City Solutions agreed to modify 13 aspects of the contract, including the reduction of the parking fee and the introduction of an oversight body.

“The new fee structure is $150.00 per hour VAT inclusive and $800.00 for eight hours VAT inclusive,” the committee stated in its report. It was also agreed that drivers pay for time instead of space, thus allowing them to move from location to location until the time paid for is exhausted. This will allow for transferability of time from meter to meter.

Additionally, the parties have agreed to have vehicles registered under the central and local governments included in the exempted vehicles. In the case of residents, passes will be issued. “It was agreed that a Residential Pass will be issued for parking from 5pm to 7pm, Monday to Friday and Saturday will be free all day. However, a nominal fee will apply and the Residential Pass is restricted to the vicinity in which the resident resides,” the committee explained.