Failed City Hall parking meter project costing Guyana USD$ millions

Jan 09, 2024 News

Kaieteur News – The Government of Guyana is facing potential defeat in a lawsuit brought against it by international company, Smart City Solutions (SCS) over the failed parking meters project.

The company had sued the government for US$100 million. Attorney General (AG) Anil Nandall SC addressed the issue during a press conference held on Monday at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre Liliendaal, Georgetown. The AG lamented on the huge sums currently being expended by the State in legal fees over a project which he said has yielded no benefits to Guyana.

Nandlall had previously announced that SCS had sued the government over the controversial parking meter project which the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) failed in its attempt to implement across the city back in 2016. SCS filed proceedings against the Government of Guyana through the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes based in Washington DC.

Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, S.C.

The parking meter project was introduced after SCS signed a deal with the Council championed by then Georgetown Mayor Patricia Chase-Green and then Town Clerk Royston King. However, protests and widespread boycott of the parking meters, specifically against the fees which were seen by many as exorbitant, led the then Ministry of Communities to put the project on hold. The contract which saw the company carting off with 80 percent of the metering profits for close to 50 years was eventually terminated.

Former Town Clerk of Georgetown, Royston King

Former Mayor, Patricia Chase Green

During his press briefing, Nandlall explained “The claim against Guyana is US$100 Million for services that were rejected by the people of Guyana …the project never got off the ground and from the public outrage expressed by the Guyanese people; it would appear as though the people are not ready for that type of system, at least in the form that it was being presented…”

He continued: “So what are we paying USD $100 million for, what are we settling at. If you settle at quarter of that sum, it is a tremendous sum of money to pay for nothing.”

In addition to the sums being claimed, the Government of Guyana is expected to pay USD $3 million only in legal fees to represent the government’s interest in those legal proceedings. The AG had previously lamented on the cost of the legal drama attached to the failed project. Nandlall had described the suit “inherited” by the PPP/C as onerous on the country’s economy and a financial burden on taxpayers to defend, stating; “…this is the type of destruction that the APNU+AFC left in its wake.”

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Anil Nandlall, Attorney General, Former Mayor, Former Town Clerk of Georgetown, Patricia Chase Green, Royston King

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