August 15,2016 Source

Governing coalition partner, the Alliance for Change (AFC) will not relent in its quest to have the controversial parking meters contract rescinded and has pledged to use its voice in City Hall through Deputy Mayor Sherod Duncan.

“That is our position, that the contract be cancelled,” Duncan told Stabroek News yesterday.

Leader of the AFC Khemraj Ramjattan had earlier told this newspaper that Duncan speaks on the parking meters deal for the AFC and reflects the party’s position. “Sherod is dealing with that…yes, he speaks for the party on that matter,” Ramjattan said.

Following widespread public concern at the manner in which National Parking Systems/Smart City Solutions (NPS/SCS) was given the go-ahead to install parking meters in the city, government ordered that a review be done to ascertain if there were any irregularities.

Two reviews were done on the deal: one by the Ministry of Finance and the other by the Attorney-General’s chambers. The Ministry of Finance’s review scathingly criticised the deal saying that government procurement rules may have been transgressed while the AG’s review said the terms highly favour the contractor.

“The sum total of the finding was that (a) there was nothing illegal about the contract [and] (b) that it appears from a review of the documents that the terms and conditions, they were onerous and they were heavily in favour of the concessionaire,” Minister of State Joseph Harmon had said, speaking about the AG’s report.

In addition, the Minister told reporters that AG Basil Williams also recommended that City Hall engage an accountant to review the contract insofar as the rates and the fees are concerned and to advise it on the way forward. The recommendations were given to the Minister of Communities who has overall jurisdiction over the council.

According to Harmon, Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan has since written to the Council advising them about the recommended courses of action to be taken. He said Cabinet did not set a deadline with respect to the recommendations but “it basically gave the Minister of Communities the full scope to deal with the matter and the Georgetown City Council.”

Meantime, the Ministry of Finance report described the deal, in some areas, as exploitive and labelled the city’s outlook on aspects of the deal as “ignorant.” The report also revealed for the first time that the secret contract struck between the M&CC and MPS/SCS last year grants fiscal concessions to the company which are not within the powers of the city and would now have to be addressed by Go-Invest, the Ministry of Finance and the Guyana Revenue Authority after the fact.

Other conclusions drawn by the Ministry’s review include that the concessions granted under the contract are “a detriment to the public” and can be used as a means to bar any form of local competition for 49 years – the duration of the contract – while presenting a foreign company an opportunity to enter into the economic activities of this country via a backdoor.

The MoF review, which sought to point out the financial implications of the agreement, states in its general observations that “Government procurement practices may have been violated, in that a tender was not advertised and bids reviewed for acceptance based on certain criteria and as such justifies a revoking of the contract by Government and the re-tendering.”

There had been no open tender for the deal and former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran had pointed out that this was also in violation of the city’s procurement rules.

Justify

For Deputy Mayor Duncan, the findings of the two reports justify the position he has taken since the deal’s initial announcement, that it be terminated.

He explained that at the City Council’s last statutory meeting, Mayor Patricia Chase-Green promised that the council will look at the recommendations. He said he anticipates this meeting of councillors so that everyone can analyse the current situation and decide on a way forward.

“Well, at our last statutory the Mayor said we will look at the recommendations given and I eagerly await that because there is so much to be said…I think the…contract should be placed before the council. Every councillor should have that contract to look at so that we are able to settle this matter once and for all,” Duncan said.

“Settling it for me and the party means terminating it.  We cannot make what is illegal, legal. If we have legislation that says any contract over $250,000 must go before a tender process, what was the circumstance then that you can justify what you have done? Anything over $250 (000) the law says must be tendered and this was not tndered…We will have to look at both reports. That stretches from the Ministry of Finance and the AG’s reports and it stretches from some of the terms of the contract with the Ministry of Finance saying there is enough evidence that the contract should be withdrawn altogether,” he added.

However, he pointed out that a cancellation of the contract holds much ramification for the city as the contract has many legally binding clauses.

“What is going to bite us is that we didn’t go in strong. I don’t know how we rectify it or how we nullify it because both has implications. I mean, who does due diligence after a contract has been signed? Who hold consultations after a contract? And if you nullify it, we could end up paying (Director of NPS/SCS Ifa Kamau) Cush a lot of money…there are a lot of clauses in that contract. This is the reason we should not negotiate outside of the council. When you dismiss the council this is what you get,” Duncan declared.

“If we retender that is another story altogether. What happens to Cush? Shouldn’t he be allowed to tender and if we do, there is a problem because we have Oscar Clarke high on the Tender Committee of the Council. He would have to recuse himself because he went overseas with the company…we would be doing ourselves and Mr Cush a disservice and we don’t want that. The President has said he wants accountability and transparency and that is what we will give,” he asserted.

As such, Duncan said his arguments going into council meetings would be based not only on the reports and the President’s stance on accountability but the AFC’s position as well.

“I would make our position known… our position based on what the Finance Ministry has stated and our own rationale of what the AG has also said…the contract is burdensome and onerous, ignorant in several regards, how then do we proceed? I know it will be a very interesting meeting,” Duncan said.