Dear Editor,
A source of much controversy are the parking meters. We understood that when the Minister of Communities approved the bylaws then the parking meters would become legal, and those who orchestrated this outrage and inflicted it on the city of Georgetown could demand that citizens pay for parking.
Now as I open the morning dailies the masses are being made aware of another side of the same matter: the bylaws are still awaiting the AG’s review and Cabinet approval. If this statement is correct then under what authority are the people tasked with enforcing the parking charges operating? I have witnessed vehicles’ wheels being locked, and this I understand attracts a fine of eight thousand dollars. If the Cabinet has to give approval after the AG’s review, how come the public is not being educated as to how to handle the impounding of vehicles?
I read with some disdain the appeal by the Czar of the city council to citizens to use the parking meters around the city, and he also explained how the city will benefit from this use. Now why wasn’t this done even before the negotiations and contract signing? Were consultations done, were there meetings on a broad scale, or is it a matter of being wise after the event?
I believe if things were done professionally, decently and with a principled approach then people would have been educated about parking meters and they would been able to offer inputs, but no, despite opposition from every quarter they have insisted on saddling citizens with another burden.
I don’t believe a proper study was done. Imagine a parent stopping to allow his/her child to photocopy a page for school work. The copy will cost ten dollars, but for a ten-dollar business that parent will have to pay the minimum of fifty dollars plus VAT for fifteen minutes parking. The photocopy of educational material suddenly jumps by 400%.
I wish that somebody would get wise and remove this additional burden from the Guyanese people.
Yours faithfully,
Ivan John
