The parking meter case, filed by Smart City Solutions (SCS) Holdings Inc. against the Government of Guyana, will be heard from September 29, 2025 to October 4, 2025 before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). This was disclosed by Attorney General Anil Nandlall during his weekly programme “Issues in the News” on Tuesday.
He noted that the hearings were initially set for September 1 to 5 but an application was made for a rescheduling of the case following the announcement of the General and Regional Elections on September 1, 2025.
Nandlall noted that many Guyanese will be travelling to Washington, DC to testify in the case.
Back in May 2016, the Georgetown Mayor and City Council under Mayor Patricia Chase-Green and Town Clerk Royston King signed a contract with SCS for a paid parking system to be rolled out in Georgetown.
The contract would have seen SCS benefitting from 80 percent of the metering profits for close to 50 years.
The meters were active in January 2017, but this was met with strong resistance from the then PPP/C Opposition, Private Sector bodies, and ordinary citizens, who formed an organisation called Movement Against Parking Meters (MAPM) – which went on to hold some of the largest non-political protests ever seen in the city.
Amid public pressure, the Guyana Government finally intervened and suspended the bylaws which paved the way for the implementation of metered parking, thus effectively halting the parking meter project. The project has since remained stalled.
Subsequently, SCS Holdings Inc. filed a US$100M lawsuit against the Guyana Government for damages and compensation. The case was filed in December 2021.
The ICSID, based in Washington, DC is a leading international institution that provides facilities for the resolution of investment disputes between States and nationals of other States. It is an autonomous institution affiliated with the World Bank and was established in 1966 by the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States.
Guyana is represented by Foley Hoag and Associates law firm.
The AG has in the past noted that the entire scenario is reflective of the APNU+AFC’s mismanagement of public office from 2015 to 2020.
One of the witnesses identified is the former Mayor who in 2023 switched her support from the PNC-led APNU to the incumbent PPP.
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