Dear Editor,
The Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown have now agreed to postpone a vote on the fate of the metered parking system until later in the month, under the pretext that they wish to allow stakeholders and the wider public to read and comment on a report on metered parking, that found that Smart City Solutions (SCS) withheld vital information from the Council’s negotiating committee. Is this not called putting the cart before the horse? This is what the they should have done in the first place before signing the contract and rushing off to Mexico and Panama.
The continued refusal by Smart City Solutions to provide proof of investment purportedly to the tune of US$10million, shows the continued disregard and disrespect they have, not only for the Fantastic Four whom they conned, the review committee and the Council, but indeed the citizens of Georgetown and Guyana.
Don’t forget Ifa Kamau Cush, the man who helped engineer the controversial parking meter deal with the Council said and I quote “You’re not progressives. You are freeloaders; You lack the intestinal fortitude to control your own destiny. You all possess the mentality of slaves, indentured servants, incapable of generating wealth and building capacity.”
Additionally, the methodology being used to sensitize the public of the contents of the report is most archaic and cumbersome, probably for some ulterior motive. Why does the Mayor expect persons to leave the comfort of their homes and offices where they could read the report in it’s entirety on their computers and smartphones, and comment on its contents online immediately and through social media if only the Council would put it up on their web page, Facebook page etc, and instead trek all the way down to Town Clerk and Treasurer’s offices and the National Library?
But the suspension of the contract seems to indicate that it has more elasticity than a rubber band, where the Councillors could extend it as long and as many times as they like. This is at odds with what the Town Clerk had said to the Minister of Communities when he wrote him strongly suggesting that suspension of the parking meter contract with Smart City Solutions (SCS) would be impossible, after learning in the wake Cabinet’s decision, of their intention to ask the municipality to halt the deal for the next three months.
The Town Clerk is said to have cautioned the Minister that if the contract is suspended, City Hall would have to pay for breach of contract and that Council could not accept the wide-ranging legal, financial and other fall-out. The Mayor and City Council has a 20 percent stake in the purported US$10 million project and SCS 80 percent.
It is logical that the Council is just stalling for time, and citizens need to be wary that they have something sinister and ominous up their sleeves. The Council is not above the Courts of Guyana, they have to await its decision and stop wasting time having ill-advised reviews.
Sincerely,
Mark Roopan
