Hundreds yesterday lined Regent Street, opposite City Hall, to demonstrate against the implementation of the metered parking system but what was intended to be a silent, apolitical protest by the Movement Against Parking Meters (MAPM), saw tempers flare after a hostile counter-protest was organised by those backing the project.
“Peaceful picket” was printed on the tags of some of the 50-plus who stood in front of City Hall shouting in support of the parking meter system but many of them were aggressive towards those who were gathered to protest it.
Among them were some councillors and they displayed what appeared to be professionally printed signs, bearing catchy phrases, such as “Security on the Streets. All day patrols. Got to Admit. Streets are under control,” and “Where do I park? I can’t find a spot. Put down the Meters. I’ll park right in front.”
However, their numbers were minute compared to the more than 500-strong who lined the northern side of Regent Street to protest the implementation of the meters, which began last week. Many drivers have been avoiding the metered parking zones.
City Hall has come under fire for the manner in which the project has been initiated and the Private Sector Commission (PSC) and the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) yesterday added their voices to the opposition, with both calling on central government to resolve the dispute between the citizenry and the municipality.
The PSC went as far as to call for government to scrap the contract for the project, which it said has “virtually crippled retail business in the city.” “The Private Sector Commission has received impassioned pleas of businesses which have seen their sales decline by as much as fifty percent since the introduction of metered parking in the city. The Mayor and City Council have displayed unmatched arrogance in their refusal to engage businesses in any attempt to compromise and mitigate the ill effects of this scheme. The citizens, on whom the full brunt of this new de facto tax would fall, have made clear their refusal to be further burdened,” it said in a statement, while warning that the failure of the retail sector would have a direct impact on the country’s Gross Domestic Product.
The GCCI, in a separate statement, said it was deeply concerned about the escalating impasse between the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) and citizens regarding the implementation of parking meters “without appropriate consultation and transparent procurement.”
The Chamber said it wished to remind the M&CC that the right to protest is enshrined in the constitution and therefore the tone and tenor of their responses should respect this right. “This current state of affairs compels us therefore to urge the Government of Guyana to intervene promptly and help to facilitate a solution that would be fair and acceptable to both the M&CC and the citizens of Georgetown. The city’s economy is struggling along enough as it is, and therefore does not need any further disruptions as a result of poor planning, obstinacy and resultant push back,” it added.
“Burden”
While the large business community was well represented at yesterday’s protest, two other groups, smaller in number but no less significant, turned out to support the movement as well. These were vendors and taxi drivers. “I’m a taxi driver and it’s very hard. Sometimes yous be at Stabroek Market for hours before you get a drop. And it’s unfair. We don’t need parking meters in this country. They get other ways and means that City Hall can get money from us but not by a parking meter,” one driver, who wished to remain anonymous, stated. Another taxi driver, Salim Dean, who occupies a spot in front of Demico House, supported his colleague’s position, while noting that the fee is a “burden.”
According to vendor Onika Edwards, the price of parking daily will cost her family in excess of $70,000 a month.
“I think that Guyana is not ready for parking meters… people’s salaries are way low for this. We sell on Water Street and we use our vehicle, when we check it, it’s like 70 something thousand [dollars] a month. There’s no way we can afford to pay 70 something thousand. Some of us got mortgage to pay, we got our kids to go to school, we got light bills and all these things. How in God’s name they expect us to find all this money? I think it’s really unfair for the citizens of Guyana. They must go. They have to go,” Edwards told this publication.
“People still paying for their vehicle. Not because you’re driving your own lil vehicle. You gah pay Akbar $90,000 and $80,000 when the month come. You still got ya children to carry to school and you still got ya light bill and all this things to pay. Where you getting this money fuh pay parking meter?” arcade vendor Tracy Peters vented.
“And then when they carry in you car, you ain even getting $200 fuh pay for parking…you gotta pay $8,000? What kind madness is duh?” she continued.
Not all were against the parking meters, however.
Across the street, standing in solidarity with the City Council was one vendor who was in full support of the meters’ implementation. He said he had paid for parking around the corner to join the protest. “We got to enforce certain rules because when we go abroad, we live by those rules. I is a man does travel. I is go all over and the rules is the rules,” he stated.
Standing beside him was another man, who gave his name as Richard Browne. He reasoned that the implementation of the parking meters, like everything else, was something Guyanese would eventually grow accustomed to.
“I’m trying to say now is everybody get used to anything, it’s just a matter of time. If Guyanese get used to phantom—waking up every day and hearing four dead, three dead, a car load dead—why they can’t get used to paying meter? Paying fuh park? If we get used to VAT—16%—why we can’t get used to paying fuh park?” he questioned.
‘Divides’
Those in support of the anti-parking meter movement remained relatively peaceful throughout their hour-long protest, which began midday. At five minutes to the end of the hour, the group broke out in a rendition of the National Anthem before dispersing, leaving behind the still chanting pro-meter group.
This, however, was not before an altercation broke out between Brian McIntosh, who contested for local government elections under Team Benschop, and a woman who was protesting in support of the parking meter project. The two had words shared between them, and McIntosh was later escorted into the Constabulary Office by city police.
Although the MAPM had emphasised that its supporters came from all walks of life and the event was meant to be apolitical, the simultaneous protests showed a visible division between city councillors present.
While the counter-protest was led by APNU Councillor Heston Bostwick, with others such as APNU Councillor Winston Harding joining the picket line, Deputy Mayor Sherod Duncan joined the MAPM side. Duncan, who represents the AFC on the council, was joined by fellow AFC member and Deputy Mayor-Elect Lionel Jaikaran. Jaikaran said that he and Deputy Mayor Sherod Duncan “stand together.” “You gotta stand for what is right. I voted to abstain against the parking meter not because I don’t want meters, I think we need meters but we need to implement it in the proper way. We need it in central Georgetown because it organises the chaos, but I’m not okay with the way it was implemented,” Jaikaran said. Duncan called for there to be a pause in the implementation, so there can be another look at the contract.
Also supporting the MAPM were PPP Councillors Bishram Kuppen and Khame Sharma.
Chants of “the PPP uneasy!” by Bostwick, were projected through a bullhorn as he paced the pavement bordering City Hall decked out in Smart City Solutions (SCS) paraphernalia. Those pro-meter completed his chant with shouts of “because the city clean!”
“How could he get on a bullhorn and say that to those people? That is nonsense. Total nonsense. That’s not what we’re about. This is business people asking for fairness and transparency, nothing else,” one businessman shouted.
“Everybody you see out here are businessmen, taxpayers, employers. That is who we are and that’s who we’re looking out for. This is not about politics. Tell them to stop with that nonsense. Absolute trash,” the incensed man continued.
‘Backward thinking’
Town Clerk Royston King, in a comment to the media, highlighted the economic disparities between the groups in the protest and opined that those protesting the parking meters really intended to “continue their personal interests and their indiscipline,” while adding that the city would have none of that.
“People who are against the parking meter are really those who are backward thinking and those who are bent on keeping Georgetown in squalour, in dirt and indiscipline. “If you take a census and if you look at the people who are over on this side, who are protesting for the meter, and those who are against this side, you will see the economic status because most of these people are known in society, and by the way, some of these people are people who have been parking on our reserves and thoroughfares for years without compensating this city, without giving citizens any single thing, these are the big, large businesses, who have been squatting on council’s reserves, who have been squatting on council’s thoroughfares, who have been squatting on council’s spaces without paying a cent to the council. Parking meters will stay and those who use our spaces will pay for those spaces,” he declared.
The supporters of the MAPM had drafted a petition asking for the Government of Guyana to disclose the feasibility and impact studies conducted prior to the implementation of the parking meters; all reports, minutes and other relevant documents produced from meetings held prior to the meters’ implementation; and evidence of the tendering process.
“All are already public, including aspects of the contract. They’re already public. Obviously, you don’t want to publish the whole contract because it has a lot to do with confidentiality because here we’re dealing with corporations, we’re dealing with an international consortium and there is the possibility that once you publish the entire contract that people can actually take aspects of that contract, aspects of the study included in the contract for their own personal business and corporate interests,” the Town Clerk explained.
King opined that any movement against the parking meters was “really a movement that is backward thinking and that is putting our people in a position of poverty and ugliness.”
He made reference to the changes that can already be seen in the city, including less congestion and pollution, and stated that there have been no reported incidents of car break-ins since the parking meters’ institution.
Despite the statements by the two associations, Mayor Patricia Chase-Green yesterday said that she had the “majority of business people” on her side.
“If people were paying taxes up to date, we might not have had to go to the expense of looking at other ways and means of revenue,” Chase-Greene said. “And parking meters were the vision of the person who wrote the Laws of Guyana, 28:01, since 1967. And you’re telling me 50 years later I can’t introduce the vision of a man? The business people have approached us for some of the packages that we’re offering to them so I can say I have the majority of the business people on my side,” she added.
King took the opportunity yesterday to once again lobby for the use of the parking meters, while highlighting how the system’s use can be beneficial to the city’s development, including job creation, since as many as 50 jobs have already been created since its introduction.
He stated that any revenue produced will be reinvested into the transportation system for the elderly, youth and children as well as to upgrade and build new roads, construct cycling lanes and sidewalks, among other initiatives.
“We’ve already said that and this is how we will use the monies generated from the parking meter initiative… If we do not get the money then explain to me, how are we going to provide the services citizens right here expect? How are we going to get the money to do that? We’re saying that the parking meters will stay, that people will have to pay for the spaces they use in the city because we have a responsibility to deliver to all citizens a clean, healthy, green and safe city and we intend to do it regardless of the degree of difficulty,” he said.
“We have to decide whether we want a modern city or we want a shanty-town like city. We have to decide whether we want a modern, globalised capital, where Guyana is part of the global village or we want to live and stay in the backdam in squalor, in mar, in dirt, in indiscipline and in lawlessness. Our roads have been in confusion and disorder for years. The city council has taken steps to ensure that this is corrected. This is how we are going forward with the programme,” King added, while noting that M&CC is not considering reducing the parking meter fee at this time as the Council believes the fee is reasonable, taking into consideration the expenses of the contractor SCS.
