The Georgetown Mayor and City Council is expected to make a presentation to Cabinet at its next meeting before the controversial amended Parking Meter By-laws are approved.
Speaking with reporters on the sidelines of an event at the Ministry of Communities today, Subject Minister, Ronald Bulkan said following the presentation, “Government will make a decision and a determination.”
The Parking Meter project was met with rejection by the citizens and business community from the onset in January 2017.
Following widespread protests, the by-laws were suspended by the Government in March 2017, barring the council from moving ahead with the contract it signed with a private company, Smart City Solutions (SCS).
The Attorney General had also raised concerns noting that the fee attached to the Parking Meter Service “over saddles” the working class.
The contract and the by-laws were amended by the council this year.
Minister Bulkan expressed hope that the amended contract satisfied the concerns that were expressed by the Ministry of Finance and the Attorney General Chambers.
He reiterated his support for the parking meters and noted that they help to reduce the chaos on city streets.
However, Minister Bulkan said, “at the end of the day, the contract that is engaged in, has to be one that is not burdensome to the population, the benefits have to be equitably shared between the concessionaire and the council.
“A lot of those features were not present in the initial contract and this is why the by-laws had to be rescinded.”
The amended by-laws were passed by the council in April 2018 after several reviews. At the end of May 2018, it was presented to Mr Bulkan for approval.
Under the new contract, persons will be paying $150 per hour and $800 for eight hours of parking in the city.
Despite changes, the Movement Against Parking Meters (MAPM) and the Georgetown Chambers of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) have already rejected a return of the project.
