Dear Editor,
It should come as neither a surprise nor a disappointment to the Georgetown City Council that the purported stakeholders in the disgraceful parking meter fiasco have shown an insouciance to the ostensible review process.
Indeed, they should have been startled when a few interested organisations put in an appearance to let them know that the infamous contract had to be ripped up and restarted from scratch.
The first grouse that citizens have is why the review was not being done by an independent and neutral commission of inquiry, rather than by members of the very Council that committed the travesty of foisting the notorious parking meter albatross around the necks of the citizens of our capital in the first place.
To make it even more egregious, some of the members of the review panel were hand-picked by the ‘Fantastic Four’, the disreputable group that brought Smart City Solutions to our country.
The second gripe citizens have concerns why it took the Council so long to host the consultations. We are all well aware of the indolence and ineptitude of the administration of the Council, but, even so, it is unsatisfactory that they took two and a half months out of the three-month respite to begin the review process.
But, most of all, the City Council should understand that the enthusiasm the citizens had when they voted for them has long evaporated. They have achieved nothing worthwhile, and in fact have made things worse for Georgetown.
Look at their track record. All the Mayor and a few of her friends in the Council have done is galavant around the world aimlessly, at no benefit to the City. There still has been no audit of the City’s finances; City Hall and all municipal buildings are in ruins; the City continues to flood when the rain falls for more than fifteen minutes; the roads are without lights, and are strewn with potholes; taking bribes is still widely believed to be the order of the day with the Constabulary and City Engineer’s Department; the markets are leaking and are rat-infested; junkies are everywhere; the cemetery is a jungle; and all the Council is doing is hiring dozens of new senior staff members each month — mostly friends and family members of the big ones at City Hall.
Why should citizens waste time consulting with them?
Sincerely,
Nadine Jerrick
