Latest update November 20th, 2024 1:00 AM
Latest News
- ‘Guyana not shackled to Exxon oil deal forever’ – Professor Clive Thomas
- Exxon hires same consultant to do EIA study for 7th oil project
- G20 leaders call for ‘comprehensive’ ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon
- Referendum on oil contract crucial before any future negations with Exxon-WPA
- Foreign companies making US millions in Guyana must pay fair share of taxes-says Jagdeo
Parking meter one step closer to reality again —City council approves by laws
The parking meter project has moved one step closer to reality again
The revised parking meter bylaws have been approved by a majority vote of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council, (M&CC).
Thirteen Councillors voted in support of the project, two voted against and two persons abstained during an Extraordinary Statutory Meeting held at City Hall, yesterday.
In opposing the passage of the bylaws of the contentious project, Councillor Malcolm Ferreira warned the Council of the impending decision of the High Court as it regards the legality of the contract between City Hall and Smart City Solutions (SCS).
“We need to exercise caution and allow the court to rule so as to offer legal guidance as well as endorsement of whatever decision we decide is best to move forward with.”
“We should not rush into any decisions and more so decisions that have proven to be unpopular and some of those decisions even had the government to intervene to protect citizens,” he said.
Mayor Patricia Chase-Green had warned that Councillors should only comment on the bylaws and not the contract.
However, also opposing the passage of the bylaws, People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Councillor, Bisham Kuppen, noted it is impossible to discuss the bylaws without touching the contract since the two are inevitably intertwined.
The PPP Councillor stressed that it is important to note the manner in which Smart City Solutions, (SCS) was contracted to supply parking meters for the capital city.
“They (SCS) were sole sourced,” Kuppen noted adding that the project never went through the public tender process. Meanwhile in a show of solidarity with citizens against the controversial project, Former Deputy Mayors, Lionel Jaikarran and Sherod Duncan, did not participate in an extraordinary statutory meeting.
In a social media post, Duncan highlighted the attempts to ignore the voices of the people who remain adverse to the Parking Meter Contract and everything that stems from it including the draft amendments of the 2018 Georgetown Metered Parking By-Laws.
“We believe that, yes, parking should be regulated to make optimal use of space in our city and also to manage traffic. But the advent of this parking meter contract remains highly questionable and dubious.”
“A contract that took high officials at City Hall less than two months to sign after we assumed office has taken us more than two years to try to rectify. We still stand against it.
“We believe, like every right-thinking citizen and resident of Georgetown, that this contract did not benefit from the wisdom and approval of our Council, nor did it benefit from the tender and procurement procedure as is required by law, among other major defects, which makes it repugnant and it should be torn up and scrapped,” Duncan explained.
The revised bylaws must be publicized across the City for at least 14 days before they are sent to Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan, for approval and thereafter published in the Official Gazette
Last year amid widespread public outcry, including weekly street protests by civil society and groups, central government had suspended the parking meter bylaws.
As a result, a matter was filed in Court challenging the legality of the bylaws. Justice Nareshwar Harnanan subsequently ruled that the approval was not done in compliance with provisions of the Municipal and District Councils Act, Chapter 28:01.
Justice Harnanan had presided over a challenge by the New Building Society Limited (NBS) mounted against the city’s metered parking bylaws, which it contended was illegal.
The Court had previously ordered that a rule nisi certiorari be issued to the Minister of Communities to show cause as to why a writ of certiorari should not be issued to quash his approval of the parking meter by-laws.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Electrician killed after trucks collide on Sheriff Street
Dead: Carlton Smartt Kaieteur News- A 42-year-old contractor was crushed to death on Tuesday morning after two trucks collided... more
Rising Gun Crimes in the Caribbean: Urgent Action required by all
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News – There is an alarming surge in gun-related violence, particularly among younger... more
Weekend Cartoon
