Parking meter oversight committee appointed

…by-laws to be posted at public places

The controversial parking meter project on Monday received an oversight committee, which will act to supervise the proper functioning of the project.
The call for the appointment of the committee was made by Town Clerk Royston King, who is no stranger to advocacy for the project. “Since we have accepted and approved the by-laws, I’m now asking the Councillors of this meeting to accept and approve the appointment of this committee,” King stated.
He went on to explain that the committee would bring a “local face and proper representation of this Council to the operational aspect of this project”. The Town Clerk in his bid for the appointment also cited the Municipal and District Councils Act Chapter 28:01, Section 60 which regulates the appointment of standing or special committees.
The Act reads: “A council may appoint general or special committees for any such general or special purpose as in the opinion of the council would be better regulated or managed by means of a committee; and any such standing committees.
“A council may appoint councillors to be the chairman and vice chairman of the committee.
A committee of a council may include persons who are not councillors, but who because of their special skill or experience will, in the opinion of the council, be able to assist in the consideration of the work of the committee. Providing that (a) At least two thirds of the members of every committee shall be councillors, (b) no person other than a councillor shall be chairman or vice chairman of a committee.’
Under this premise, Councillor Oscar Clarke explained that the five-member committee should have two councillors, two members from the project’s mother company and one independent member.
The floor was opened subsequently and Councillors Noelle Chow-Chee, Akeem Peter and Bishram Kuppen were nominated. However, Councillor Kuppen declined the position. As a result, the remaining two Councillors were appointed to the oversight committee with Peter taking up the position of Chairman and Chow-Chee Vice Chairman.
The Town Clerk also took the opportunity at Monday’s statutory meeting to announce that the municipality has taken the initiative to publicise the new parking meter by-laws by posting them at municipal buildings around the city, namely: Agricola Post Office, General Post Office, East Ruimveldt Market, Albouystown Market, Bourda Market, Stabroek Market, Festival City Clinic, the Mayor’s Office, the Offices of the Town Clerk and Chief Constable, the City Treasurer’s Department and the Dorothy Bailey Health Centre.
“You can check at any of these locations, and you will find copies of the by-laws for the parking meter,” King affirmed. However, when Guyana Times visited a few of the named locations no copies of the by-laws could be found, nor were the City Constabulary departments aware of them being posted at their respective locations.
The recently revised by-laws were approved last Wednesday by the City Councillors with 13 Councillors in agreement, two against and two in abstention. The parking meter project was initially launched in January of 2017, but received high levels of rejection and retaliation from the public. The lop-sided contract was contested by drivers and even Councillors of the municipality; this led to the suspension of the by-laws by Central Government. The revised by-laws saw the fees being reduced to $150 an hour and $800 for eight hours of parking.