“We can initiate parking meters …and we will!” – Clarke

…as City Hall defers vote on amended by-laws

It is just a matter of formality before the metered parking system is reintroduced in the City of Georgetown, as City Hall is all set to vote to adopt the amended by-laws proposed by the Re-negotiation Committee.
At Monday’s Statutory Meeting, Councillor Ivelaw Henry moved that the Standing Orders be suspended to deal with the urgent issue of voting and accepting amended by-laws, and it was after a highly emotional debate that the vote was deferred to April 4.
Team Legacy’s Councillor Malcolm Ferreira, said he receive his copy of the 76-page amended by-laws sometime around 20:00hrs on Saturday. He highlighted that enough time was not provided for him to properly examine the document.
“I feel we should have more time. Given the fact that the last by-laws were found null and void by the court of law in Guyana, I feel we should have been given more time to peruse this document and gain legal advice as it relates to parts of it; and I am doing so to protect the city from a recurrence of what happened previously,” Ferreira noted.

The Councillor urged his colleagues to support a deferral, because of the time allotted prior to the discussion. He said the parking meter project has been a controversial one, hence the city could not afford for it to be scrapped once again.
Responding to the assertion that the by-laws were thrown out by the court, Town Clerk Royston King related that the court ruled the process to be invalid, and not the by-laws.
“This is the start of another process that will determine how this ends up, so can’t we take some time at this stage of the process to totally digest this document in front of us? I can’t pronounce on it right now. To vote yes would be unfair, to vote no would be unfair; so you are putting me in a position where I can’t vote on it,” Ferreira explained.
However, Ferreira’s inability to toe the line did not seem to go down too well with former PNC General Secretary Oscar Clarke, who emphatically stated that installing parking meters is the legal right of the Council, and he went as far as saying that they will be implemented.
“We are not going to move away from our legal responsibility. Under the law, we can initiate parking meters in Georgetown, and we will. No matter how many people you bring to gather and make noise outside, that doesn’t change the position of Council. Council has a right and Council will carry out that right,” Clarke said.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Re-negotiating Committee, Akeem Peter, explained that the amendments are presented on a separate page, and that councillors should trust the recommendation of the committee.
“I don’t know the motive behind asking for more time, but personally, thinking without emotion or without an ulterior motive…if the committee has submitted (the 6 pages of amendment) to you for your perusal/approval, then I believe that they should trust the judgment of the committee,” he noted.
“I don’t see the need for an extension of time, (where) I see the need, is for councillors to take their jobs seriously, because this is a project that has been going on for a year now,” Peter advised.
In the end, the Councillors were given the extension of time and would meet on April 4 at 14:00hrs to complete discussion and vote on the amendments.
Following re-negotiation, SCS and the M&CC reached a new agreement under the controversial Parking Meter Project, which will now see persons paying $150 per hour and $800 for eight hours of parking in the city. Meanwhile, residents of the city would be issued with a restricted residential pass for free parking from 17:00-19:00hrs Monday to Friday, while parking will be free on Saturdays.
Under the modified contract, both parties have agreed to have an oversight committee set up to monitor, review, and manage the operation of the project. The committee is expected to have three representatives from City Hall, 3 from SCS, and one third party with the terms of reference for the committee expected to be agreed upon at a later date.
The Committee’s report noted that during the renegotiations, the subject of share profit and contractual obligations were discussed and it was agreed to have it remain the same being the 20/80 M&CC-SCS for a period of 20 years. It was also disclosed that in the event of arbitration, the proceedings would be held in Miami, despite the jurisdiction being Guyana.