Mayor asserts that the parking meters will stay

Feb 06, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
On February 3, 2017 an allegedly People Progressive Party (PPP) sponsored protest was held on the northern side of City Hall, Regent Street, Lacytown. The protest was against the Georgetown Parking Metered System, an initiative by the city council to generate revenue, reduce traffic congestion in the city and make our roads and sidewalks cleaner and safer.
What was strikingly interesting about the group that had gathered against the parking meter initiative was the number of business owners associated with the PPP who brought their workers and other related staff to demonstrate against the council.
Our records show that quite a number of those who shouted the loudest against this innovation, have neglected to honour their civic responsibility and continue to appropriate city spaces without compensating citizens, who collectively own them.
I would only note that prior to the new era of local democracy, when the city was trashed with rubbish, unkempt parapets, stagnant alleyways and drains, broken and impassable roads and a host of environmental negatives, that those who are now agitating were neither seen nor heard speaking out against the evils which were committed against the city when the council was controlled from offices in Kingston and Robb Street.
Now that the council is attempting to correct such a situation and make a positive difference in the city, we see heavy political activism on the part of the PPP and their associates. What was significant about the group protesting was the serious economic disparities and the clear line between the haves and have-nots, rich and poor, wealthy and those who eke out a living at the edge of the city.
The parking meter initiative has already provided more than fifty jobs for our young people; another forty individuals are being trained to be properly employed within the next two months, with the project. Also, there is a noticeable reduction in traffic congestion in the city and almost zero in criminal activities related to breaches of vehicles in areas, where we have already installed meters. The Mayor and City Council wishes to inform all citizens that it will continue to push ahead with this initiative to secure the integrity of local communities and the city as a whole.
The council calls upon all law-abiding citizens to resist this attempt by the PPP and their associates to take Georgetown backwards to indiscipline, lawlessness and confusion and to embrace forward thinking and programmes by the city council aimed at development, progress and prosperity. Let us restore and sustainably develop Georgetown.
Patricia Chase-Green
Mayor of Georgetown

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