Latest update November 26th, 2024 1:00 AM
Parking meter official tells protestors: “You all possess the mentality of slaves, indentured servants…”
Ifa Kamau Cush, the man who helped engineer the controversial parking meter deal with the
Under fire: Ifa Kamau Cush
city, is under fire for charged statements on Facebook accusing protestors of possessing the mentality of slaves.
On Thursday, during a heated exchange on the social site, Cush in response to criticisms of the parking meter project which has seen hundreds gathering in front of City Hall calling for a scrapping of the initiative, did not hold back.
“You’re not progressives. You are freeloaders; You lack the intestinal fortitude to control your own destiny. You all possess the mentality of slaves, indentured servants, incapable of generating wealth and building capacity,” he said in tagging Arun Richard, a participant of the protest on Thursday.
The statement immediately sparked a backlash of criticisms against Cush who again yesterday stood “firmly” behind his comments about the “slave mentality” among the protestors.
This is what he had to say yesterday in another post: “That is my personal opinion. I did not utter those statements on behalf of Smart City Solutions. The protestors represent a cabal of misfits who add no value to the productive capacity of our country. They bring no gravitas, no moral authority to the conversation.”
Cush said that a review off the profanity-laced comments on social media confirms that. “More significantly, many of these protestors are incredibly fatuous for they offer no solutions to the myriad problems afflicting young Guyanese; neither do they empathize with the victims of the PPP regime, a regime responsible for the murders of hundreds of Guyanese citizens. I remember a Guyana where, as Guyanese citizens, we put our collective shoulders to the wheel and charted our own course.”
Facebook screenshot of the controversial post by Ifa Kamau Cush.
He argued that Guyana achieved much in those days because the people were independent thinkers, masters of their own destiny.
“We did not go hat-in-hand begging for grants and handouts. We identified problems in our country, proposed solutions then solved them ourselves! That’s the thinking of independent men and women!”
Cush, among other things, was at the time asked to make public the contract that was signed between City Hall and Smart City Solutions, which is managing the parking meter project.
The project has been a major thorn in the side for the administration which is unwilling to intervene. Government is insisting that its hands are tied as new local government laws allow City Hall autonomy in introducing initiative to raise revenues.
However, critics and businesses insist that Georgetown is not ready for such a project.
As a matter of fact, city businesses are claiming a major drop in businesses since the parking meters were commissioned last month.
Town Clerk, Royston King, since late 2015 signed an agreement with Smart City Solutions which is partnering with National Parking Systems (NPS) to introduce the meters.
NPS is reportedly owned by Cush.
However, there has been little mention of Cush and his company, NPS, since the signing.
The issue has been so contentious that even former Deputy Mayor, Sherod Duncan, and other councillors at City Hall protested it, joining businesses and other workers in the picket lines.
Targetted by Cush: Arun Richard, a worker who was one of the hundreds to protest the parking meter project on Thursday, in front of City Hall.
NPS, on its website, had claimed a Park Avenue, Manhattan address as its office. However, investigations by Kaieteur News found that no such office exists.
Cush had accompanied Mayor Patricia Chase-Green to Mexico last year to meet with the parking meter company.
That company had paid for the trip.
Smart City has since agreed to halt the clamping of vehicles as questions continue to be raised over the legality.
An under-pressure City Hall yesterday met with stakeholders and said it is considering proposals to halve parking rates to $100 per hour.
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