As the City’s plan to reclaim spaces that are being used illegally by businesses and citizens continues, a team from the City Council yesterday destroyed two concrete ramps on the pavements outside of the entrances to the Teleperformance Parking Lot on Camp and Church streets.
The team from the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) which was headed by the Public Relations Officer (PRO) Debra Lewis gathered around 10.00am, outside of the parking lot, where ten cars were parked, with a large excavator and a jackhammer. Lewis related to Stabroek News that the owner of the site was given a notice when he started the preparatory works last November for the parking lot for his staff’s vehicles, but he failed to adhere to the warnings and continued the works. “They [Teleperformance] didn’t apply for permission and they were given notice in November when the council recognized that they had started,” she said, while emphasizing that the council has no record of the company applying to build the parking lot.
PRO Lewis pointed out that the two concrete elevations that were built on the pavements to facilitate the smooth movement of vehicles to and from the parking lot, were not approved by the council, and can be hazardous to disabled persons. In addition to the elevations, she said that the parking lot had not been approved by the council. However, they would only be addressing the concrete structures, as they wish to give the owner an adequate amount of time to talk to the council.
“We are looking after the erections and then we will talk to him again about the parking lot. Some people are saying we are not giving fair notice, and so we want to give him the opportunity,” Lewis related, while stating the council is encouraging persons who have built illegal structures on the city’s spaces to, “come in and talk to us.”
However, while Lewis said that the company did not have permission to construct the parking lot, Stabroek News had reported in December that an official from Teleperformance had stated that permission had been granted by the City Council for its construction.
Efforts by this newspaper yesterday to contact a representative from Teleperformance for comment were futile.
