The Ministry of Communities has requested that the new Mayor and City Council (M&CC) meet and discuss the future of the metered parking project, Town Clerk (Ag) Sharon Harry-Munroe has disclosed.
Harry-Munroe said that a letter was recently dispatched to her office from the ministry asking that the council look at the status of the project.
She pointed out that the letter will be placed on the council’s agenda for an upcoming statutory meeting, where councillors would begin discussions.
However, she indicated that the councillors will not only hold private discussions but engage in public consultation with stakeholders.
The project, which was pushed for income generation by some members of the previous council, was widely criticised and attached more than eight weeks of public demonstrations calling for the enabling contract to be terminated.
Responding to the calls from civil society, government suspended the by-laws under which the project was initiated.
Afterward, two committees were set up by the council to review its controversial contract with private contractor Smart City Solutions (SCS).
The first committee, led by Team Legacy Councillor Malcolm Ferreira, was put together after the metered parking project was suspended by central government in March 2017.
That committee was mandated to review the contract, consult with all stakeholders and recommend possible solutions to any impasse that may arise from the implementation of the project.
Councillor Akeem Peter, who led the second committee, had meet with three SCS executives, who were led by Amir Oren, the Managing Director for Business Development.
While the committee was not able to have the hourly rate reduced to below $100, Peter said it was able to reach a compromise between the requested reduction and the $200 being charged at the time of the project’s suspension.
“It would’ve defeated the purpose of traffic control if we made the price too low. If an hour’s parking cost less than $100, we would still have congestion,” Peter said. He said the committee was also able to see agreements on reductions in the fees attached to enforcement.
However, there has been no public movement on restarting the project since then.
