According to Chairman of National Parking Systems (NPS) Irfan Cush, the Mayor and City Council will not have to contribute money towards the procurement of parking meters and will be receiving 20% of the annual gross revenue during the 49 years that the company has been contracted for.
Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday, Cush stated that while the project has a high cost attached to it, they are expecting to start making a profit in 3-4 years. While it was reported that it was NPS that was contracted, Cush clarified that it was Smart City Solutions (SCS), of which he is a director, that was contracted and that NPS is working with them.
Cush explained that NPS had first submitted the proposal to the city in 1995, which was then approved a year later but then shelved. “Fast forward to 2016 and NPS in collaboration with Smart City Solutions formed a joint venture. The city of Georgetown has signed a contract with Smart City Solutions and they are the corporate entity,” Cush explained, noting that Smart City Solutions is part of a consortium that has supplied and is managing parking meters in all parts of the world. “So you see the company has expansive experience and a tremendous track record in installing parking meters in large cities,” Cush said.
Cush said that the meters to be used are manufactured in France by a company called Parkeon and will be procured by NPS and SCS. When asked the cost of a unit or the total cost of all the parking meters that are to be procured in the first phase, Cush said, “…Not just a cost of meters. For instance we have spent over $10M over the past six weeks so it’s not a question of the cost per meter, we are not talking about shoes and bread here. The entire thing will cost north of US$10M and we haven’t worked out what part goes into the meters, our financial folks will have to work that out.”
When questioned on how the procurement will be financed Cush explained that the money will come directly and solely from the two companies. “The joint venture is paying for them and money is not coming from the city. It’s not costing the city a penny, ” Cush emphasized.
When asked about the recovery of the investment by the company, Cush said that they expect to start making a profit in 3-4 years on the 49-year contract. “The $125 [per 15-minute rotation at a meter] is just a figure that has been tossed around and has not been settled on but the city earns 20% of the gross revenue. Whatever we earn every year, the operative word is gross, even if we don’t make money the city gets paid 20% and that has been settled on,” Cush explained.
While the price per rotation and fee structure have not been settled on, Cush said that it would be a “dynamic pricing structure” and will depend on factors such as the volume of traffic and the number of commuters in an area. “I went to Scotia Bank just to see how long it takes to conduct a transaction and it takes about an hour and so in that situation anyone who drives up and has to spend an hour we will adjust and figure out the rate accordingly,” Cush said, explaining that conversely in an area like Demico in Stabroek where persons might just want to stop to purchase food and have a “quick run” it will be adjusted accordingly.
Even though the project in still in its infancy and installation of the meters will start sometime in September, Cush said that in the near future they would want to have the same systems in areas such as Linden and New Amsterdam and on streets such as Sheriff and Vlissengen. “We just want to make sure that Georgetown works well first and … then we will expand out,” he said.
Elucidating how the parking system will work, Cush said that after purchasing time from the meter, users will be given a receipt that will have to be placed on the dashboard of their cars. In addition to decreasing the congestion, Cush said that a number of jobs will be created directly and indirectly. He pointed out that the two firms will directly employ a minimum of 100 persons and the city council is set to employ a number of persons too to enforce the new parking systems.
Addressing the current contention between Smart City Solutions and Astrolobe Technology, which was reportedly also contracted in 2007 for a parking system, Cush emphasized that as far as he is aware only SCS has been contracted for the provision of parking meters.
On Friday, City Hall issued a statement saying that the city would be divided into two sections allowing NPS and Astrolobe Technology to install parking meters. City Hall had said in the press release that the council had approved a proposal for the erection of parking meters for NPS in 1996 and for Astrolobe Technology in 2007.
An announcement by the city that a deal had been reached with NPS had prompted Astrolobe to say that it had the original agreement with the city for parking meters. Based on what the city says, NPS’ arrangement predates Astrolobe’s.
Given the magnitude of the deal for the parking meters, questions have been raised as to why the project had not been put out to tender by the city instead of relying on arrangements – contractual or otherwise – reached in 1996 and 2007.
Town Clerk Royston King had also stated that his office did not have any document which stated that Astrolobe Technology had gotten into an agreement with City Hall in 2007 and as such Astrolobe was given the opportunity to make a presentation yesterday before the City’s Finance Committee and other stakeholders on their plans for installing parking meters in the city. Saratu Phillips, the company’s CEO, told Stabroek News yesterday that he made his presentation to the committee and the other stakeholders and was told that they would get back to him.
