Dear Editor,
Despite the slowdown in revenue opportunities in City Hall bequeathed by a bankrupt leadership under Hammie Green for which he is being rewarded by the Granger administration with a $20 million annual pension, the city government was not as cantankerous then as it is today. I was not drawn to writing this letter because of the street protest against the parking meters since I was so proud of the purity of the activism of the people that I decided to reflect inwardly on this issue. But when Councillor Alfred Mentore wrote a letter to the press on this matter advocating a reduction in parking fees, he caused me to change my position. Bingo! That is the solution.
Aspects of the public interest favour both sides, as evidenced by the massive attention this parking meter issue has garnered at even these preliminary stages. On the one hand, the paying public has a powerful interest in ensuring that this new tax is affordable, and on the other, City Hall has an interest in filling the deficit in its budget to better deliver on its duties to the citizens of the city.
We need not characterize either side since they both have legitimate issues, one a fair rate, the other a wider tax base. But as a good governance advocate, I am pained to see how this contract was executed in a non-transparent manner. But in this case, this act has brought great hardship to the citizens of the city and some amount of rolling back is vitally necessary.
It is time City Hall ask the Private Sector Commission to join the negotiations with the parking meter company and arrive at a rate that is more affordable. All must reject the circumstances of the contract, but the contract has been signed and I was advised that the termination cost to the bankrupt City Hall is enormously high. So backing out seems a distant option. Therefore we must all look at the bigger picture and work for a more amicable result that will better serve all.
Parking meters are a normal feature in most cities and thus should not be alien to Georgetown, but the rates do not justify acceptance by the paying public. We have to make choices. Will the Granger administration listen to the people and reduce the rates or will they continue with their usual aloof and arrogant politics and economics like the forced $3 spread on the exchange rate?
In this regard, I take this opportunity to applaud President David Granger for recognizing that the rate is too high and burdensome, and who therefore has taken the initiative to make his concerns known to the Town Clerk and the Mayor. I must also salute the silent protestors for their advocacy, because without their silence maybe the President may not have seen the light. But we all must focus on the now, and what is absolutely clear is that we cannot turn back time and all energies should be focused on securing a better rate.
Lastly, I want to commend the small group of Councillors who stood up to the Mayor and her Town Clerk, and I speak specifically of Sherod Duncan, Alfred Mentore, Ron Persaud, Lionel Jaikarran and a few others. To the ordinary citizen who debunked the politicians by telling them this issue is not political, like Marcel Gaskin the brother of the Minister, they also must be commended for standing for principle. Now is not the time to stop the protest, and I am sure every law-abiding Guyanese is with them in spirit every time they are out there. Until the rates comes down A luta continua, vitória é certa. Well done Georgetown, you have shown that the flames in the belly of the people have not been extinguished.
I appeal to the City Fathers and Mothers, to please let common sense prevail to the point that all can have a win-win situation.
Yours faithfully,
Sase Singh
