Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan has said that in his preliminary opinion the motion in the name of PPP/C MP Irfaan Ali calling for an immediate forensic audit into the Georgetown City Council including the controversial parking meter project, “lacks jurisdiction.”
Bulkan, whose ministry is responsible for local government institutions, stressed that in his interpretation the legislation governing Local Government Authorities grants those authorities autonomy to operate, an autonomy which central government cannot impede.
“Any decision made at the level of the National Assembly will have to be implemented by central government and central government can’t interfere in the affairs of a constitutional organ, which for me includes local government organs. City Hall has autonomy to enter into contracts. The council is a democratically elected body. We would be threading on slippery ground if we were to implement any such motion,” Bulkan explained.
In expressing his opinion Bulkan noted that he was not speaking on behalf of the government’s side of the house which is led by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo. Attempts to contact Nagamootoo for comment on the issue proved futile. Stabroek News was also unable to contact leader of the Alliance for Change (AFC) Khemraj Ramjattan.
Ramjattan had previously said that the party’s position on municipal matters including the parking meter contract will be carried by Deputy Mayor Sherod Duncan, who has repeatedly called for the contract to be rescinded. It is left to be seen whether this position will translate into support for the motion at the parliamentary level.
The contract has been championed at City Hall by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) members including Mayor Patricia Chase-Green.
The recital to Ali’s motion noted that the Mayor and Town Clerk had entered into a contractual arrangement with Smart City Solutions (SCS) for the installation of parking meters but that there had been no consultations with the citizenry by the Mayor and City Council. SCS had held a number of consultations with various stakeholders but these were not well attended.
Ali’s motion further stated that citizens who drive into and traverse the capital have called for an abandonment of the project because of the “financial hardships” it threatens.
The motion also adverted to two reviews of the contract by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Legal Affairs which said, among other things, that municipal tender procedures were violated, the contract was heavily in favour of SCS and the cost was burdensome.
Ali noted that the company has been proceeding full speed ahead with its plan “with aggressive promotion, importation of equipment and the hiring of staff.”
He said this has been occurring even though there are legal hurdles and outstanding questions including whether the Mayor and City Council has authority over public roads like Regent Street, Water Street and Avenue of the Republic where parking meters are to be established.
Ali also noted the AFC’s and Duncan’s opposition to the project and in the resolve clause of the motion asks the National Assembly to call “on the Auditor General of Guyana to immediately conduct a forensic audit into the Georgetown Municipal Council including the parking meter contract.”
Controversy over the contract has raged for months because of the secrecy surrounding it, likely cost to users and concerns that procurement rules have been breached.
Earlier this month, after a majority of city councillors voted to approve amendments to the contract between the city and National Parking Systems/ SCS, City Hall signed the updated agreement for the introduction of parking meters that would see a lower toll, among other things.
At a council statutory meeting on September 26, 2016, a motion was moved by Councillor Oscar Clarke for the amendments of the controversial parking meter contract to be adopted and included in the contract, which was first signed on May 13, 2016.
The amendments, which were presented to the full council on August 31, include the reduction of the parking tariff to $50 per 15 minutes from the originally proposed “up to $125” per 15-minute interval, as well as the reduction of the length of the contract to 20 years from 49 years.
Seventeen of the 21 councillors present voted in favour of the motion, while the two People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Councillors Khame Sharma and Bishram Kuppen voted against and councillor Andrea Marks along with Deputy Mayor Sherod Duncan abstained.
Duncan, who has been very public in his opposition to the manner in which the contract was awarded, told Stabroek News that while the amendments were passed using a democratic process he respects, he could not support them because they were part of a contract that didn’t follow the legally required process.
He reminded that reviews of the contract by the Ministry of Finance and the Attorney General also found “many additional faults” but noted that he was pleased that the rejection of the original contract led to the citizens of Georgetown getting “much, much more than the contract offered from the inception.”
One of the primary concerns has been that the administration of the city of Georgetown had not engaged in public tendering for the project, thereby contravening municipal procurement laws.
Following the widespread public concern generated by this oversight, government ordered that a review be done to ascertain if there were any irregularities.
Two reviews were done: one by the Ministry of Finance and the other by the Attorney-General’s Chambers. The Ministry of Finance’s review severely criticised the deal, saying that government procurement rules may have been transgressed, while the AG’s review also pointed out that the terms highly favoured the contractor.
The reviews, however, did not find the contract to be illegal and the central government recommended only that the city renegotiate it after seeking the advice of an accountant.
Following the council’s decision, Town Clerk Royston King was charged with signing and operationalising the amended contract on behalf of the council.
Meanwhile, the contractor NPS/SCS, under the direction of Managing Director of Business Development Amir Oren, has launched a vigorous public relations campaign to inform the public about the terms of the contract as well as the scope of the service to be provided. Oren has replaced Ifa Cush as the face of the company’s operations.
