A government review of the parking meter contract between the Georgetown Mayor and City Council and National Parking Systems/Smart City Solutions (NPS/SCS) has found no illegalities although the deal heavily favours the contractor, Minister Joseph Harmon announced today.
“The sum total of the finding was that (a) there was nothing illegal about the contract [and] (b) that it appears from a review of the documents that the terms and conditions, they were onerous and they were heavily in favour of the concessionaire,” Harmon said in response to questions asked at a post-Cabinet press briefing today.
Following a controversy over the manner in which NPS/SCS was given the green light to install the parking meters, government ordered that a review be done to ascertain if there were any irregularities.
Harmon today informed that the issue did engage the attention of Cabinet during a meeting on Tuesday. He said that as previously indicated, two reports were submitted; one by Ministry of Finance and the other by the Attorney General.
In addition, the Minister told reporters that Attorney General Basil Williams also recommended that City Hall engage an accountant to review the contract in so far as the rates and the fees are concerned and to advise it on the way forward. The recommendations were given to the Minister of Communities, who has overall jurisdiction for the councils.
According to Harmon, Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan has since written to the Council advising them about the recommended courses of action to be taken. He said that Cabinet did not set a deadline with respect to the recommendations but “it basically gave the Minister of Communities the full scope to deal with the matter and the Georgetown City council.”
Asked why the need for an accountant when the Ministry of Finance would have already taken a look at the contract, Harmon said that the ministry was reviewing the contract and the need for the opinion of an accountant was what was recommended. “And so this is what they are saying needs to be done and this is what is the recommendation being made to the Minister of Communities for him to follow up with the Council,” he explained.
Further pressed, he said that the council is an independent body and the government doesn’t want to “overreach or intervene in these matters in that way.” He added that the president had previously said that the importance of Georgetown is one of the reasons why “we have been so concerned about this issue…but as a general principle we do not interfere in the actions, the activities of these councils unless they are patently illegal and unlawful.”
Observers have questioned government’s approach, while stating that it is not about legal issues with the contract but rather the lack of a competitive procurement process, the absence of details on the bona fides of NPS/SCS and the secrecy surrounding the deal, including a visit to Mexico by a delegation comprising the Mayor, the Town Clerk and councillors Oscar Clarke and Junior Garrett.
Meanwhile, Stabroek News has been informed that the Attorney-General met with company officials a few weeks ago and told them that there was nothing illegal with the contract and they could go ahead with their plans.
The company today began the first in a series of public consultations, which are expected to run until August 25. The consultations will target the various stakeholders who live and operate within the central business district of the city.
Sources have indicated that the first shipment of parking meters will be arriving in the country mid-September.
Mayor Patricia Chase-Green had said that the previous council, in November last year, entered into an agreement with NPS/SCS.
Chase-Green and Town Clerk Royston King made a decision not to make public or share the contract with the other councillors out of fear that the opportunity for the 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 suddenly taken away from the council,” Chase-Green had said, while adding that the contract was a “private document” of the city administration.
The Mayor, who had led the team to Mexico 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.
However, Deputy Mayor Sherod Duncan has publicly stated, “…All the processes leading to and emanating from this contentious contract have been weighed and found wanting.”
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.
