Deputy Mayor of Georgetown Sherod Duncan yesterday upped his rejection of a controversial parking meters deal arguing that local government elections was meant to lead to a new way of doing business.
In his latest Facebook post on the parking meters deal which the Mayor, Pat Chase-Green and Town Clerk, Royston King are pushing for, Duncan said “…all the processes leading to and emanating from this contentious contract have been weighed and found wanting”.
Duncan’s strenuous opposition to the deal with National Parking Systems/Smart City Solutions (NPS/SCS) sets up a showdown with Chase-Green and King when they return from Mexico where they had gone with two other councillors to inspect the parking meters in operation.
Duncan and other city councillors have raised a series of concerns about the parking meters deal among which are that there should have been a competitive process, no information can be found about the bona fides of NPS/SCS and the secrecy surrounding the deal and the visit to Mexico which also included councillors Oscar Clarke and Junior Garrett. All four of those on the trip have been at the City Council for the last 20 years.
In his post yesterday, Duncan said he was nonplussed by the statement issued on Wednesday by the Town Clerk from Mexico on the issues surrounding the parking meter contract with NPS/SCS.
Amid mounting opposition to the deal, King said on Wednesday that the team was in Mexico City for the “final rollout schedule of the new parking project, which is actually more of a mobility solution for the City of Georgetown. In addition, the delegation is being presented with other innovations, which may be offered and brought to our great City.”
He added that the Mayor and City leadership continue with their “hands on approach in their overseeing of a project which began with extensive due diligence on a parking solution and continues now with their involvement in consideration of other complimentary projects that can be offered by the Smart City Solutions consortium to enhance the intelligent products, services and amenities available to the citizens of Georgetown”.
King’s release said that as a result of the visit, the delegation’s “opinion has been strengthened that the parking and mobility solutions coming to Georgetown will become the pioneering centre of wider modernisation and improvements coming to the City that will accelerate it towards parity with the other great capital cities across the world”.
The release added “While it is unfortunate that certain individuals have taken advantage of the absence of the Mayor to advance negative, divisive and completely untrue narratives, the Mayor and the travelling delegation plan to hold a press conference upon their return to provide updates on this very important and productive trip…”
Duncan fired back yesterday.
“It would require a willful suspension of belief, in light of the incontrovertible facts that not only my research has produced but which every major newspaper in our country has corroborated and expanded on, that this contract can move Georgetown forward”, he declared.
Duncan charged that King’s statement also went against the sentiments of every reasonable, right thinking Guyanese, and the mood of the majority of City Councillors, and hence the will of the people. He said that it was the collective Council which sets policy for the Municipality, legislates through bylaws and provides oversight to projects.
“The majority of our municipality sent us to the august house of City Hall, not to continue on the old tenor of business as usual. It is the people’s business that we transact and not what is in our own personal interest.
“This is why I stand against this arrangement, because all the processes leading to and emanating from this contentious contract have been weighed and found wanting.
“No Guyanese with the courage of their conviction would think this murky and shrouded contract is good business. I am guided by the law, by the regime of legislation which governs the Local Government, Chapter 28:01-28:09. And I am guided by the entire Constitution”, Duncan declared.
He said he is also guided by cases in administrative law like “Barnwell v AG” , adding that the the “Town Clerk is not the Council and the Council is not the Town Clerk.”
NPS/SCS emerged suddenly following the historic March 18, 2016 local government elections and there were immediate questions as to why the new council would embark on a project based on an engagement with one of its stakeholders many years ago. Another company, Astrolobe was also in the running for the installation of parking meters but was eliminated by the council in favour of NPS/SCS. It is unclear who on the council made this decision and who reportedly signed a contract with NPS/SCS. The previous city council dating back to 1994 had been routinely accused of opaque and shady transactions.
