City Hall has backtracked on a deal to allow one company to install parking meters in Georgetown and Astrolobe Technology, a firm which had inked a deal with the previous council but was left out under the new arrangement, will now be part of the project but the agreement still has to be signed.
“The city would be divided into two sections allowing two companies, the National Parking System (NPS) and Astrolobe Technology to put in place parking meters,” City Hall said in a statement last week. According to the statement, the council had approved the proposal for the erection of parking meters for NPS in 1996 and for Astrolobe Technology in 2007.
Following the signing of the contract with NPS to install parking meters across the city last month, questions had been raised about the exclusion of Astrolobe Technology whose principal Saratu Phillips said he had a valid contract which was signed in 2007. The areas where meters were to initially be installed by NPS are the same areas that were cited in the contract between the city and Phillips’ company. After discussions with city officials, last week it was announced that Astrolobe Technology would be included in the project.
However, Phillips told Stabroek News yesterday that any deal is still to be finalised. Stabroek News understands that talks are still continuing between Phillips, the Chief Executive Officer of Astrolobe Technology and Town Clerk Royston King.
Phillips related that his discussions with King resulted in two options being floated. One of the options being considered is having the project split between his company and NPS, he said, while adding that he believes this option is the best. He declined to comment on the second option.
According to Philips, there is no concrete agreement or contract on the 50/50 proposal but he would meet King again this week. He said once an agreement is signed, he would begin sourcing the necessary equipment to begin the installation of the meters. He also stated that his investment would cost a fraction of his competitor’s.
Contacted yesterday, NPS chairman Irfan Cush said he is not aware of any other company working along on the project. He said as far as he is aware, his firm is the only one that has a contract signed with City Hall to undertake the project.
Meantime, Oscar Clarke, a long time councillor for the People’s National Congress told Stabroek News that no tendering was done for the parking meters project. He explained from 1996 when he became a councillor, there had been numerous proposals from different companies to install parking meters within the city including from NPS.
Clarke said within the last two decades, the issue of parking meters had been discussed at statutory council meetings but a decision was never made until the government changed. He said the PPP/C government had never supported the city’s
ideas to generate its own income and blamed the delay of the parking meters project on them.
NPS had said that in September of this year, it would begin the installation of meters across the city. The first phase will see some 300 parking meters rolled out and Cush had said that this will cost more than US$10 million. The initial 300 meters will cover a span of 3,000 spaces, with one meter per 10 parking spaces.
The streets that have been identified for the initial rollout of parking meters are: the Avenue of the Republic, Regent Street, Robb Street, Camp Street, Main Street, Brickdam, Water Street, America Street and Church Street.
