The New Building Society Limited (NBS) has been successful in its bid to have two by-laws governing the controversial parking meter project rolled out by the Mayor and City Councillors of Georgetown quashed in the High Court.
On Friday, Justice Naresh Harnanan ruled that the procedure used to bring into
Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan
effect the by-laws was breached, resulting in them being invalid.
The case, filed in February by the NBS, sought to challenge the legality of the city’s metered parking by-laws. On January 23, Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan signed the by-laws that were approved at the December 13, 2016 Statutory Meeting of the Council.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NBS, Anil Kishun, noted in an affidavit that the approval granted was unlawful “in that it was done in breach of the Municipal and District Councils Act” and is therefore “null and void and of no legal effect.”
He outlined that the notice of intention to apply for the approval of the minister in regard to any by-law must be published in the Official Gazette not less than 14 days before the application is made.
Kishun, in his affidavit, stated that this was not done, and that the provisions of
New Building Society
Section 305 of the Act were not followed, and the minister’s approval was granted unlawfully, unreasonably, without or in excess of jurisdiction, and in breach of the statute.
“The approval of the by-laws has put into operation a Parking Meter System which restrains and prevents our employees and customers from gaining access to our establishment without incurring large fees, which in some cases are prohibitive, or being guilty of a criminal offence which attracts a prison term upon summary conviction,” the affidavit stated.
This ruling comes after a new committee was formed to renegotiate the contract with Smart City Solutions (SCS), and was at a point of inking a new agreement. Under the proposal, persons would be entitled to pay $100 per hour and could park in any space, as opposed to the initial system where they paid for space and
City Hall
time.
The new committee is being chaired by Councillor Akeem Peter and consists of Councillors Noelle Chow-Chee (VC), Oscar Clark, Jameel Rasul, James Samuels, Heston Bostwick and Ivor Henry.
The Mayor mandated that two members of the public also sit on the committee, and Civil Engineer Owen Godfrey Edwards and Accountant Robin Hunte were selected.
The new committee, according to the draft TORs, would be tasked with engaging Smart City Solution with a view to renegotiating the terms of the agreement entered into between the parties, and more specifically to seek to take into account the concerns raised and addressed in the reports of the Special Committee in relation to costs, fines, enforcement, profit-sharing, areas, times and other factors identified in relation to the project, and any other relevant actions as the committee may, in its discretion, determine, or as may be suggested by the general council. Upon completion of the negotiation period, the new committee would have to prepare a report and present it to Council at a meeting called for that purpose, setting out the proposals and/or agreements arrived at.
The M&CC had entered into a contract with Smart City Solutions Inc. on May 13, 2016 for parking meters to be implemented in Georgetown.
