Though the parking meters contract with the city is still being reviewed by government, Minister of State Joseph Harmon yesterday said he finds no issue with the recently launched public education campaign on the use of the machines.
“There is no injunction against the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown…giving public education and all of these things but I believe that the fact that the Minister of Legal Affairs is reviewing the contract, that the Minister of Finance is looking at it also I believe they (the M&CC) must understand these things and function within that environment”, he said during a post-cabinet press briefing yesterday.
Within the last week this newspaper has noticed persons moving around with one of the machines demonstrating to curious members of the public how it works. Flyers were also shared out.
Questions have been raised as to whether this should be allowed particularly since the contract is shrouded in controversy and is being reviewed by government.
Harmon stated that at a previous post-cabinet briefing that he had indicated to the press that the councils were “independent bodies and that government was not prepared to interfere into the works but that because of the specific nature of Georgetown as the capital city of Guyana that the government had an interest in ensuring that there was transparency in all of the operations of the council”, he said, adding that it is for this reason that the contract is being reviewed.
Reporters were told that the Minister of Finance has completed his review and that government is waiting on the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Basil Williams to complete his evaluation of the contract.
“The Ministry of Finance has completed their part of it and so we would have to await the Attorney General’s intervention to determine the way forward but cabinet has asked that those two ministries examine the contract and so that is what is taking place”, he said.
The contract has been in the possession of Williams for several weeks now.
The Mayor said that the previous council, in November 2015, entered into an agreement with NPS/SCS to provide a parking platform which will “improve mobility, increase parking space availability and turnover, reduce traffic congestion in Georgetown and pay a share of its revenue to our city.”
However, the mayor and the town clerk, made a decision not to make public or share the contract with other councillors out of fear that the opportunity for this foreign direct investment would be stolen from the city.
“We took a deliberate decision not to share the contract because we wanted to secure the investment. We have had bad experiences with sharing contracts, proposals and initiatives only to have them subtly taken away from the council,” Chase-Green had said, adding that the contract which was signed by Town Clerk Royston King was a “private document of the administration.”
Since the announcement of the city’s intention to proceed with this project concerns have been raised by both members of the public and several councillors, including Deputy Mayor Sherod Duncan.
Duncan had publicly stated, “…All the processes leading to and emanating from this contentious contract have been weighed and found wanting.”
The series of concerns raised about the parking meters deal include that there should have been a competitive process, that no information could be found about the bona fides of NPS/SCS and the secrecy surrounding the deal and the visit to Mexico, which included councillors Oscar Clarke and Junior Garrett.
Chase-Green, despite the concerns, recently announced that the city will be going ahead with the parking meters project, which is expected to come on stream from September 1.
The Mayor who had led a team to Mexico and Panama in order to look at parking meters there, had said that she was very satisfied that the contractor, NPS, can provide a product which will be beneficial to the people of Georgetown.
