Dear Editor,
Please refer to a news report which appeared in the Stabroek News issue of July 15, on page 3: ‘City seeking to claw back control of public transport identification from GRA’.
We are a bit disappointed with your use of the words “controversial scheme”, particularly the word ‘scheme’, which was a reference by your reporter to the parking meter project, in the fourth paragraph of this particular report. Whilst we are in no position to dictate your choice and use of words in presenting stories it does seems a little odd that a reputable newspaper such as Stabroek News would select to use such a culturally loaded word as ‘scheme’. According to the Municipal and District Councils Act, Chapter 28:01, the city council is a corporate body. The council does not run schemes; its actions are guided by that very body of laws, bylaws, regulations and rules in Chapter 28:01.
Since 1996, the council settled the question of organized paid parking, but was estopped by a previous administration. It is a project that seeks to assist to modernize our national capital. The benefits of this project include mobility efficiency, the reduction of congestion, the reduction of pollution, environmental and public health positives, revenue for the city and enhancement of the collective confidence of investors.
Again, we have no problem with your choice. However, we believe that we have the right to give context and perspective to stories and reports emanating from the media, particularly when those stories are reported, in our opinion, in ways that do violence to the general and specific interests of the municipality.
For all of us the choice is perfectly clear, it is either a shanty town with slums, streets overflowing with garbage, clogged drains and waterways, facilitating the easy breeding of mosquitoes and other disease-carrying nuisances, or a modern city with high environmental and economic integrity; one that can stand shoulder to shoulder with the great cities of the world. Frankly, it is up to us. Our actions today will earn us either the condemnation or the praise of the next generation.
Yours faithfully,
Royston King
Town Clerk
