AG to brief Cabinet on findings

Parking meter contract

At the upcoming meeting on Tuesday, Cabinet members will be briefed by Attorney General cum Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams on his findings from reviewing the controversial Parking Meter Project contract between the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) and Smart City Solutions Inc.
Government spokesman Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman on Thursday at the post-Cabinet press briefing disclosed that the AG had completed his contract review: “The Attorney General has completed his review and will make his report at the next Cabinet meeting.”
In light of mounting concerns over the controversial project, Cabinet had ordered last month that the contract be reviewed by the State.
The Parking Meter Project will see solar-powered parking meters installed along selected streets in Georgetown.
While Government was reviewing the contract to ensure that the document is in compliance with local laws, Smart City Solutions has gone ahead with the project conducting demonstration exercises on how the parking meter works throughout the city. Persons are also seen conducting assessments on various streets in the city.
This is being done in spite of mounting concerns over the lack of transparency in the deal, which persons say appears to be a shady one aimed at exploiting the populace.
However, Kamau Cush, who owns the company implementing the project, maintained that the project is a legitimate one. In fact he had told reporters last month that he is not bothered by the review being conducted by Government and assured Guyanese that nothing illegal will be found.
“There is no fleecing going on… We have everything to lose, we will be responsible for all the overhead, for the software, for the hardware – everything. The City of Georgetown and Central Government will have no financial responsibility in the installation or the operation of the project,” he pointed out.
Furthermore, a United States-based Guyanese businessman disclosed that the contract was actually signed between the Town Council and Smart City Solutions, and not National Parking Systems as previously stated. He added too that when the joint venture between the two companies was formed, NPS was absorbed into Smart City Solutions, which he now claims is owned by Mexican Company – Operadora de Estacionamientos Bicentenario, S.A. de C.V.
“Smart City Solutions is a subsidiary of Operadora de Estacionamientos Bicentenario, this is the parent company that is headquartered in Mexico City… NPS is no longer an entity that’s operating this parking system. The City of Georgetown signed a contract with Smart City Solutions. NPS is a shareholder in Smart City Solutions; Smart City Solutions is a subsidiary of Operadora de Estacionamientos Bicentenario, which is based in Mexico,” Cush had related to the media.
This information comes in light of mounting concerns over the authenticity of the two initial companies – NPS and Smart City Solutions. Since the signing of the contract for the Parking Meters Project, several City Councillors have expressed scepticism about the project.
In fact, Deputy Mayor Sherod Duncan had stated that he could not find proper information about NPS, which was believed to be the substantive company handling the project. Duncan had stated that the address given by Cush for NPS led to an address in New York City which housed the Atlanta City Bank.
However, Cush had explained that no information could have been found about the company in the United States because its operation is based in Mexico City.