Former municipal legal officer was unaware of Parking Meter Contracts

Sep 17, 2016 News

Former legal officer and Town-Clerk of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council, Carol Sooba, has denied having knowledge of the parking meter contracts, particularly the one signed in 2007 between the capital city and

Former Legal Officer of G/Town M&CC, Carol Sooba

Astrolobe Technology.
“I was legal officer for the council for 15 years before I became town clerk and I was never aware of any contract that was signed.”
Sooba, during her presentation, yesterday, at the public forum on the present situation at City Hall hosted by the People’s Progressive Party Civic, condemned the manner in which the present Town Clerk Royston King and Mayor Patricia Chase-Green handled the issue.
Based on the time span which Sooba sat as legal officer, she should have had knowledge of the 2007 parking meter contract, which was during the time her party, the People’s Progressive Party Civic had been in office.
She was asked to explain why concerns weren’t raised then on the council’s intention to institute parking meters in the same areas where the new contracting company Smart City Solutions wishes to operate.
To this she said that when she became town clerk, “Someone brought the contract and said ‘Look we signed a contract for parking meters.’ I was surprised because during my own tenure at the council, I had never heard anything about parking meters.”
Astrolobe Technology had signed the agreement since October 1, 2007. Then town clerk Beulah Williams had signed the contract on behalf of the council.
Town clerk Royston King acknowledged the validity of the contract and promised to discuss the issue with the company’s head, Saratu Phillips, to arrive at a compromise since a similar contract has been signed with Smart City Solutions.
A source close to the council had informed this publication that the new council had gone ahead with the new contract because they failed to familiarize themselves with previous agreements.
According to Sooba before the present Council had decided to implement parking meters, consultations should have been done with all the relevant stakeholders, such as the department of traffic within the Guyana Police Force, environmental agencies, Town and Country Planning and the private sector.
She explained that the council has the right to address issues such as parking, parking meters and the control of traffic. However, she said that in pursuit of this, the council cannot wake up one morning and decide to implement parking meters without consulting stakeholders.

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