–stresses gov’t takeover of streets aimed at public service, not political control
ATTORNEY-General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall has firmly defended Central Government’s decision to assume control of several key streets in Georgetown, dismissing claims by Mayor Alfred Mentore and the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)-led City Council that the move amounts to “a hostile takeover”, or a bid for political control.
Speaking in response to recent comments by the Mayor, who suggested that City Hall could revive the controversial parking meter system as a fallback revenue measure, Minister Nandlall insisted that the government’s action is both lawful and necessary in the public interest.
He stressed that the streets in question are, and have always been, State property, and that the government is merely transferring responsibility from one public agency to another under the Roads Act.
During an airing of his weekly programme, Issues in the News, Minister Nandalall argued: “The State can take over that which is the State’s property in the first place. So, that response is misconceived. It is the State’s property; the government is simply removing one agency that had responsibility over the State’s asset and putting it into the hands of another agency.”
According to Nandlall, what is changing is “supervisory jurisdiction”, the lawful responsibility for managing and maintaining those roads which is being moved from the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) to the Ministry of Public Works. He maintained that both the decision itself and the process being implemented are lawful, and have been clearly outlined in a previous statement from the Ministry.
Rebuffing the Mayor’s claim that the government is seeking to “choke” the Council’s revenue streams, the Attorney- General insisted that Central Government would in fact be “most happy” if the M&CC could generate its own revenue and manage the city in a “reasonably competent manner”. He said it was not the government’s desire to run City Hall, but rather to ensure that citizens receive a basic standard of service.
PARKING METERS- INHERITED DIASTER
Nandlall warned that the Mayor’s suggestion to revive the scheme should “ring alarm bells” among residents.
He reminded the public that it was the APNU-led Council and its then Central Government that had previously attempted to impose parking meters during the 2015–2020 period, triggering what he described as one of the largest protest movements in recent Georgetown history.
Residents and businesses from across the city, he recalled, had united to condemn the project, and ultimately forced its abrupt halt. Nandlall suggested that the Mayor appeared to be suffering from “amnesia” in threatening to bring the scheme back, given the scale of public outrage it had generated.
He reminded, too, that the government is currently awaiting a ruling in a case brought about by the then contracted firm, Smart City Holdings, who sued the State for damages of US$100 million.
In 2016, the M&CC, under then-Mayor Patricia Chase-Green and then-Town Clerk Royston King, signed a contract with Smart City Solutions Holdings to implement a parking meter system in Georgetown, while the APNU+AFC David Granger-led coalition government was in office.
At the time, installations were happening throughout the capital city, as well as staff training for the new parking meter regime. However, the initiative faced immediate backlash, and saw massive protests against its implementation.
Citizens contended that the fees were too high, and placed an undue financial burden on the populace. Others argued that the awarding of the contract lacked transparency. Public pressure forced a suspension of the project.
