Although enforcement of Georgetown’s new metered parking system has started, the bylaws are still being vetted by the office of the Attorney General and are expected to be presented to Cabinet for approval after which they will be gazetted.
Minister of State Joseph Harmon told a post-Cabinet press briefing yesterday that Guyana’s legal system “requires that whatever laws come from wherever ministry, that it has to be signed off by the Attorney General before it actually comes to Cabinet.”
He explained that as far as he is aware, the AG’s office is now reviewing the bylaws. Stabroek News had previously reported that Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan had signed the bylaws, after they were vetted by the AG.
Asked to explain this contradiction, Harmon said that it would be up to Attorney General to state in his report to Cabinet if he had vetted the bylaws before they were signed by Bulkan.
On January 23, Bulkan told Stabroek News that he had learned that the bylaws were previously vetted by the Attorney General’s Chambers so he could find no grounds for withholding his signature. This signature was affixed to the un-amended bylaws three days after they were submitted to Bulkan’s office and one day before the metered parking system came into effect.
In fact, the absence of Bulkan’s signature on the bylaws delayed their implementation.
Yesterday, Harmon was asked if he believed it was appropriate for the laws to be implemented before they were approved by Cabinet and gazetted, to which he said only that the council is fully authorised to institute the question of parking meters.
He explained that the AG’s review will ensure that the bylaws are aligned with national laws and examine how they speak to certain categories of exemptions, such as those for emergency, state and diplomatic vehicles, which are presently not exempted.
A group of concerned citizens has launched a campaign to end the parking meters project.
The Movement Against Parking Meters is to hold a silent protest today outside City Hall, Regent Street end from 12 noon to 1 pm.
