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Mar 26, 2017 Editorial, Features / Columnists
After several weeks of protests by the residents of Georgetown against the installation of parking meters in the city, the Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan, has suspended the project for three months. The aim is to pave the way for the contract to be renegotiated and to address the public’s concerns about the parking rates, lack of transparency and accountability.
It was a firm decision by the government to remove control of the project from Smart City Solutions (SCS).
In suspending the project, the Minister stated that the Mayor and City Councilors are in default of their function with respect to the Georgetown Metered By laws. Meanwhile, civic society, led by the Movement Against Parking Meters, has called for the contract to be revoked because there was no public tender, no public consultation and a lack of transparency.
No proper feasibility study was done to determine the socio-economic impact that the parking meters would have on the people, especially on businesses.
City officials and SCS also clashed with the Ministry of Public Infrastructure which outlawed the erection and operation of parking meters on several streets, including Water Street, that it claims are not the City’s streets.
City Hall officials claimed that the money obtained from parking meters would help the city meet some of its financial obligations such as the repair of bridges, roads, garbage collection and the cleaning of drains and canals.
However, the decision by the Georgetown City Council to reject the suspension of the parking meter project as directed by Minister Bulkan is clearly an act of defiance against the government. The defiance has also embarrassed the government due to the fact that it was spearheaded by the APNU-PNC-aligned City Councilors led by the General Secretary of the PNC and the Mayor.
In rejecting the government’s decision, the APNU-PNC Councilors claimed that they needed more time to study the legal ramifications of the suspension. They have not only voiced their displeasure over what they believe was an unwelcomed intrusion by the central government into the internal affairs of the council, they have also condemned the dictatorial actions of the government.
It seems that the government was under intense public pressure to suspend the parking meter project due to the constant protests by the residents of Georgetown. But had the government acted earlier and addressed the issue, it could have avoided the embarrassment and saved its image.
The fact that City officials refused to heed the government’s order should be considered contemptuous. The laws of the central government must be respected and should always trump city laws. And City officials ought to know that the buck stops with the government.
The City seemed to be operating as a state within a state. The decision by the City Council to defy the suspension of the parking meter project for a week angered the government. As a direct result, the government outlawed the parking meter project. In addition, the Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan was instructed by the Cabinet to have the police protect the residents of the city and their vehicles from being unduly hindered or restrained in any way whatsoever by the Georgetown City Council and SCS.
After dragging its feet on the parking meter project for months, government finally came to its senses and has exercised its power.
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