Citizens have lost faith in City Hall

May 26, 2017 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

The Mayor and City Council has lost the confidence of the citizens of Georgetown. If it has not yet realized this, then yesterday’s one-man attendance at the public consultations held to discuss the parking meters was an emphatic demonstration of the total disinterest by citizens of the city in engaging with City Hall.

The overwhelming majority of the citizens of Georgetown voted for the present council. The PPPC lost significant support in Georgetown in the local government elections of last year. The PPPC gained a mere two seats. The independent candidates, except for a few, performed poorly. The council therefore came into office on a groundswell of public support for APNU+AFC.

The council is dominated by APNU+AFC. They however must not take that support for granted because they have infuriated the citizens of Georgetown by their actions, and this has led to a loss of confidence as depicted by the lack of public interest shown yesterday.

Not even the hire car and mini-bus drivers bothered to turn up, and they have a vested interest in any new system which is going to be implemented.

Citizens felt disappointed by the council over the parking meter contract. It is impossible to gain public support for a contract like the one which was signed. Citizens felt betrayed when they learnt that the parking meter contract was signed even before all the councilors had knowledge of the details of the deal.

That betrayal turned to contempt when the very council, by majority, voted to go ahead with the parking meter contract. The loss of confidence became permanent when the very council refused to publicly publish the contract.

You cannot treat people this way and then expect them to turn up at public consultations. The public is finished with the present council. It is doubtful that many of them would be going back into council when elections are held in the next two years. There is no recall mechanism under the local government system, but people have a way of showing their disapproval, and it is doubtful whether there will be any meaningful response to the consultations which are taking place.

People have also lost confidence in the council because of actions unrelated to the parking meters. These actions have irked citizens. The manner in which the vendors were removed from the Stabroek Square led to protests. The breaking down of stands at Bourda Mall, where some of the displaced vendors had been relocated, led to tears and frustration. The container tax, and of course the obnoxious parking meters, have all left a better taste in the mouths of citizens. They want nothing to do with City Hall.

As far as the citizens of Georgetown are concerned, the parking meter contract should be quashed not renegotiated. There may be voices calling for some form of parking meter system, but the public is not going to accept any parking meter system administered by City Hall, period.

The parking meter issue is before the court. The court will have to make a decision as to the legality of the contract and the legality of the by-laws. It makes no sense having a discussion about parking meters now when those issues are not resolved, because those issues are germane to what happens in any parking meter system.

The Mayor and City Council is wasting its time having consultations on parking. The public is disinterested, because they have no confidence in the council and they certainly are not in support of parking meters, whatever the system in place.

You do not need public consultations as to how the public feels about parking meters. The public were quite expressive about this matter in the weeks of protests which were launched outside of City Hall.

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