Georgetown Mayor Patricia Chase-Green has said she is yet to be officially updated on consultations conducted by a negotiation committee set up by the City Council to deal with issues regarding the installation of parking meters around the city.
She, however, noted that the committee has been allowed the independence to
A parking meter in Georgetown
work without interference, and does not have a timeline within which to report.
“I am aware that the committee is conducting consultations and working, so we (the City Council) are allowing them the independence to work unhindered, and not mandating them to report to us within a time frame,” Chase-Green declared on Friday.
Invited to comment in this regard, the mayor said the matter had been raised by councillors at the May 8 statutory meeting, and Chairman of the Committee, Councillor Malcolm Ferreira, informed that the committee is not prepared to report on what progress it has made.
“The Chairman said that they will be putting out a press release on the matter, and I am also awaiting it,” she explained.
Contacted by Guyana Times, Councillor Malcolm Ferreira would only say, “(A) statement (is) to be released very soon”, being careful not to divulge any additional information. Paid parking was introduced in the city by the Mayor and City Council through Smart City Solutions in January of this year. However, following mass protest by citizens, Government suspended implementation of the project for 90 days, that suspension being ordered by Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan and coming into effect on March 17 last. The Negotiation Committee, formed in April, has been tasked with consulting with the relevant stakeholders to determine the terms of a new agreement to bring the contract in harmony with the desires of the Council, Central Government, Smart City Solutions and the citizenry.
It has been some 57 days since the parking meter project was suspended, yet there has been no word from either the Government or the M&CC on the fate of the project.
Members of the ‘Parking Meter Negotiation Committee’ are Roopnarine Persaud, Noelle Chow-Chee, Ivelaw Henry, Trichria Richards, Carlyle Goring, and Heston Bostwick.
