… legally untenable to renegotiate an illegal contract – MAPM
The Movement Against Parking Meters (MAPM) maintained that the controversial contract, entered into by the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) and Smart City
Members of the Movement Against Parking Meters along with the Parking Meter Renegotiation team at the consultation on Tuesday
Solutions (SCS), for paid parking in Georgetown is illegal and as such cannot be renegotiated.
In May 2016, the M&CC signed a contract with SCS that gave the company exclusive rights to conduct paid parking in the city of Georgetown. It also included the installation of parking meters. However, since the implementation of the project in January, it has attracted a lot of controversy with the public calling for it to be scrapped.
The MAPM was formed as the advocating body for the public and filed an injunction in the High Court challenging the legality of the contract; since the M&CC was in breach of the Constitution along with the Public Procurement Act and the Municipal and District Councils Act when it signed the agreement with SCS without tendering for the project. The case is still being heard in the High Court.
However, following mass protest by citizens, Government suspended the By-laws for 90 days. The suspension was ordered by Communities Minister, Ronald Bulkan and came into effect on March 17.
The Negotiation Committee was formed in April by the M&CC, and is 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, SCS and the citizenry. The Committee is being chaired by Councillor Malcolm Ferreira and includes Roopnarine Persaud, Noelle Chow-Chee, Ivelaw Henry, Trichria Richards, Carlyle Goring, and Heston Bostwick.
The Committee officially began its work on Tuesday, meeting with the MAPM, the Private Sector Commission and the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry to listen to their concerns. During the consultation, MAPM member, Learie Barclay, said their position remains the same and the contract should be completely revoked.
“We maintain that the contract is illegal…. and as such, it is a legally untenable and impractical position to seek to renegotiate an illegality. It must be scrapped and the process restarted in accordance with the law,” he said.
“We reiterate for the emphasis that the absence of tendering in accordance with the laws of Guyana, particularly the Constitution of Guyana, the Public Procurement Act and the Municipal and District Councils Act is an insurmountable deficiency of the current purported contract,” Barclay added.
He alluded to reports in the media where Mayor Patricia Chase Green said that tendering was not necessary since SCS approached the Council, but Barclay reminded the Committee that Sections 232-234 of the Municipal and District Councils Act stipulated that any contract exceeding the amount of $250,000 ought to be tendered.
He added that giving 80 per cent of revenue to SCS does not support the revenue earning argument of the Council, since they are the ones who stand to lose. He further stated that a feasibility or impact study is yet to be conducted to back claims that the parking meters would control traffic congestion in the city.
“The power to do so (control traffic congestion) falls within the purview of the Police as mandated by the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act to which the said Municipal and District Councils Act (Sec 274-76) is expressly subject to in conjunction with the Roads Act and Town and Country Planning Act. It is only when these three Acts are silent does the power to control traffic vest in the M&CC,” Barclay informed.
He added that the Acts are not silent hence there is no justification for the Council wanting to control traffic. He also sought to remind the Committee that there are still court proceedings pending as it relates to the legality of the contract and urged them to await the outcome of those proceedings.
“We repeat, that purported contract must be rescinded. Nothing less can nor will be acceptable. It can be done and must be done. In layman terms, the contract and process is too flawed to be fixed, we must restart the process from the beginning,” Barclay posited.
Proposed solution
At the beginning of the consultation process, Committee Chairman Malcolm Ferreira, urged that the proceedings be civil since “it is a consultation, not a confrontation.” However, that seemed to elude the mind of Committee member, Heston Bostwick who had to be cautioned since he sought to dispute statements made by the MAPM.
The MAPM proposes that the contract be scrapped and a feasibility study be conducted. They are also proposing that social impact studies be conducted and the project be tendered so ensure transparency and accountability.
A study, conducted my MAPM, revealed that 100 per cent of the respondents think that the cost attached to paid parking in the city is too extravagant. The proposed cost should be between $10 to $20 with packages for those residing and working in Georgetown.
They are also proposing that Value Added Tax not be added to the cost since they are already paying to park their vehicles. They also noted that the installation of parking meters in Georgetown does not mean that there will be less traffic or eased traffic congestion.
In an effort to seem somewhat prepared, Councillor Carlyle Goring, repeatedly questioned the MAPM members as to whether they know that City Hall is bounded by a legal contract with SCS. However, he was schooled in legalities by MAPM member Attorney at Law Pauline Chase who informed him that the court is in the process of determining the legality of the “purported” contract.
He then asked the members to state what they thing should be the terms in a new contract to which they collectively said that they are not qualified to answer since they are yet to get the relevant data to support the cause.
Day two snubbed
The second instalment of the renegotiation consultation failed after the minibus and taxi owners and operators along with other commercial vehicles operators did not turn up.
According to the President of the United Minibus Association (UMA), Eon Andrews, the M&CC failed to inform them of the consultation hence they could not have made adequate representation.
“I happen to bump into the PRO of the Council (Debra Lewis) who told me that they have some kind of consultation and we should attend… I don’t know what this consultation is about and is now I am hearing that it is about parking meters,” Andrews said.
“We (UMA) are a legal body and if the Council wants us to participate then they know how to find us and formally extend their invite for us to participate,” he added.
When asked about the methodology used to invite the groups to participate, Chairman Ferreira said that they announced it in the media and he would have appeared on various radio and television programmes. However, no notices were posted in the newspapers or any other form of media by the committee.
Up until 16:00h yesterday (Wednesday), only one minibus operator turned up to the consultation. He informed that he only became aware that the Committee was considering the public view after listening to the radio on Wednesday morning.
Consultations continue today in the Council’s Chamber as the Committee will engage private residents within and around Georgetown. (Lakhram Bhagirat)
