Smart City Clamps Former President’s Vehicle Opposite Freedom House

By Leroy Smith

The BMW X3 2007 SUV vehicle which is assigned to Former President, Donald Ramotar had a clamp placed on its wheel by personnel employed by Smart City Solutions (SCS) earlier today (Saturday, January 28, 2017).

The vehicle was at the time parked opposite the Peoples Progressive Party’s (PPP) Headquarters, Freedom House, on Robb Street where there are no parking meters. However, the vehicle was reportedly on a no parking sign. Mr. Ramotar was attending a high-level meeting at Freedom House with other party officials.

The News Room has been informed that security personnel for Mr. Ramotar identified the vehicle as the one assigned by the state to the Former President but the SCS’s representatives nevertheless went ahead and placed the clamp on the vehicle.

There are no Parking Meters in that vicinity but we were told that the reason the clamp was placed on the vehicle was because of its presence in a no parking zone. Smart City Solutions is contracted by the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) to regulate parking in the city.

Contacted this morning, Former President, Donald Ramotar confirmed that the vehicle was indeed clamped by the representatives of the company but later removed. He did not divulge much information on the issue since according to him, he did not leave the meeting to intervene in the matter. He said he plans to address it when he is fully briefed about what really transpired.

Public Relations Consultant for Smart City Solutions, Kit Nascimento when asked why the clamp was removed from the former president’s vehicle if it was indeed parked in a no parking zone, stated that the decision was taken to remove the clamp “as a form of courtesy to (former) President Ramotar who by the way has no right to be parking in a no parking zone.”

He then posited that Mr Ramotar, Opposition Leader and also former President, Bharrat Jagdeo, Former Prime Ministers, Samuel Hinds and Hamilton Green among others should write to City Hall identifying the fleet of vehicles which they are using so that consideration can be give to extend certain courtesies to them.