Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, S.C., has strongly criticised Georgetown Mayor Alfred Mentore over comments about a possible return of parking meters, arguing that the city’s leadership remains more focused on revenue than on fixing Georgetown’s long-standing problems.
Speaking on his Issues in the News programme, Nandlall said the mayor’s remarks came in response to the government’s decision to assume control of a number of streets in the capital under the Roads Act.
According to him, City Hall’s reaction has exposed its real concern, the possible loss of revenue from those roads.
Nandlall said the roads in question remain State property and that the government is merely transferring supervisory control from the Georgetown Mayor and City Council to the central government.
He rejected suggestions that the move constitutes a “hostile takeover,” maintaining that the intervention is lawful and necessary due to years of neglect.
Turning to the issue of parking meters, the Attorney General said he found it alarming that the mayor would even raise the idea of bringing the system back.
He referred to a newspaper report on Mentore’s remarks and said the mayor appeared chiefly concerned about the city council losing money from streets the government has taken over.
Nandlall argued that if those roads have been such an important source of revenue, then City Hall must explain what it has done with that money over the years, given the poor condition of the streets, drainage, and garbage management across the city.
He said the remarks should concern residents, since any streets left under City Hall’s control could now become the focus of a renewed parking meter push.
“It means that the few streets that are left to the city council… are the ones that he plans to put parking metre,” Nandlall said.
The Attorney General also accused the mayor of forgetting the massive public backlash that forced the original parking meter project to be halted during the APNU+AFC administration.
He said residents and businesses across Georgetown had united in protest against the scheme, leading to its abrupt end. According to Nandlall, the fallout from that decision left the Guyanese state defending international legal proceedings in Paris over the termination of the contract, with claims amounting to US$100 million.
Nandlall said the proceedings have already cost the State millions of U.S. dollars in legal fees, travel, and expert representation, and a ruling is still pending.
He warned that while the current government would not permit the imposition of such a contract again, anyone who attempted to expose the treasury to such losses could be held personally accountable.
“Any person who executes a contract like this while we are in government will be held responsible for the consequences,” he said.
Nandlall maintained that the government’s move to take over the roads is aimed at improving conditions in Georgetown and protecting the public interest, not depriving City Hall of revenue.
