Govt. finally sinks parking meter deal

Mar 22, 2017 News

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– police to protect vehicle owners against clampers

By Murtland Haley

Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan signed a new order yesterday suspending the Parking Meter Project as of today for a period of three months. Bulkan’s order followed deliberations by Cabinet which ultimately instructed him to formally suspend the operation of the by-laws governing the parking meter project with immediate effect.

In addition, Cabinet also instructed Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan to advise the Commissioner of Police to ensure that as of today, citizens and their vehicles would receive the protection of the Guyana Police Force to prevent them and their vehicles from being unduly hindered or restrained in any way whatsoever by the Georgetown City Council and its agents.
Speaking with Kaieteur News, Minister Bulkan admitted that there was some degree of ambiguity with his initial order directing City Hall to suspend the project. However, he said that this has been cured. He added that the Council was given an order and should have acted accordingly, but failing to do so lead to Cabinet’s decision to formally suspend the project.
According to Bulkan in a subsequent statement, City Council would now be advised to inform the company, Smart City Solutions, that paid parking would be suspended. He said that the company would be invited to enter into negotiations, and at that stage, it would be up to the company to determine what its response to the new action of the government would be.
This order comes two days after a majority vote by the Georgetown Mayor and City Council sought to defy the advice of Minister Bulkan to suspend the project. Cabinet, two Mondays ago, had requested Bulkan to advise City Hall to suspend the project for three months to facilitate consultations with citizens of Georgetown.
Responding to the advice, Town Clerk Royston King had written Bulkan saying that the suspension would be impossible since the contract M&CC signed with Smart City Solutions does not provide for a suspension of any kind, and would result in a breach of the contract.
King told the Minister that the M&CC would not be in a position to face the legal, economic and other implications of a breach of the contract. Ultimately, King had asked for more clarity on Cabinet’s recommendation to facilitate a full discussion by the full council of the M&CC.
As a result of the suspension order, Deputy Mayor and Acting Mayor Sherod Duncan had said via a Facebook post that under his authority as Mayor, he would be calling for an extra-ordinary meeting of the council to deliberate and decide on the matter. It was at this meeting that the council voted for more time to consider the legal implications that a suspension would attract.
Since its announcement in May 2016, several red flags were raised concerning the project. Last May, four City Council representatives – Mayor Patricia Chase-Green, Councillor Junior Garrett, Chairman of the Finance Committee Oscar Clarke and Town Clerk, Royston King. – proceeded on a due diligence trip to Mexico and Panama.
According to Chase-Green, the purpose of the trip was to determine whether the company was capable of performing the tasks which they had proposed. The company had apparently done similar projects in the two Central American states.
The city officials were condemned for going on the trips since it is customary in such arrangements that a due diligence inquiry into a company is done before parties sign the contract. Further investigation by this newspaper revealed that the company copied details from legitimate websites to create its own. Also, the address given by SCS proved to be false when checks were made.
Tainting the contract further, the traveling and accommodation for the officials were paid for by the company. When the M&CC was asked to release the details of the contract, both the Mayor and Town Clerk had said that the document could not be released. However, the Mayor advised that anyone wishing to see the contract would have to sit in the office of the Town Clerk and peruse the document.
When Kaieteur News reported on details of the original contract it was revealed that if City Hall wishes to unilaterally terminate the contract without the written consent of the company, the City shall pay SCS a lump sum payment equivalent to the total direct and indirect, hard and soft cost cumulative gross investment of the company in the project.
However, this cost is compounded by an additional 15 per cent of the total direct and indirect, hard and soft cost cumulative gross investment of the company in the project. When that 15 per cent is calculated it is to be multiplied by the number of remaining years under the agreement.
The company was also given the power to begin charging at nights in areas that are high traffic spots. The enforcement activities of the project have also been heavily criticised.
The enforcement of the contract has been consistently rejected by the Movement Against Parking Meters, an apolitical group set up to protest against the implementation of the project.
Meanwhile, small business owner Michael Rodrigues, yesterday expressed his frustration by using a sledgehammer to rip off a ‘boot’ or ‘clamp’ from the front right wheel of his Toyota Raum motor vehicle. His vehicle was parked opposite Harvey’s Furniture and Appliance Store on Regent Street.
The boot was placed on his wheel by a SCS staffer after the man refused to pay for parking. Rodrigues said that his vehicle was clamped around 11:00hrs.
According to Rodrigues, he resorted to removing the clamp because he is planning to take care of himself, since it seems as though the government has left Guyanese “at the mercy of Tiberius”.
“Smart City Solutions has locked my wheel. I will be taking off those locks myself. I don’t know what the consequences will be, but in light of the Mayor and City Council not caring, the government not caring, I myself have lost care.”
After removing the clamp from his vehicle, Rodrigues was approached by a Constable of the City Constabulary. However, the frustrated man entered his vehicle and quietly drove away.
In an invited comment, Marcel Gaskin from the MAPM said that the group is pleased with the stance taken by the government. The action by Cabinet, he said, will undoubtedly, once put into effect, bring much needed relief to the residents of Georgetown, who have suffered for weeks during the implementation of the parking meter system. He further stated that although the media release does not specify the time limit of the suspension of the by laws, the Movement will continue to work in the interim to ensure the complete revocation of the contract and by laws.

 

 

 

 

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