The now weekly anti-parking meter demonstrations, initially touted as ‘silent protests,’ took on a new life yesterday when protestors began marching to Dave Martins’ recently released song, ‘Postpone,’ which offers social commentary on the controversial metered parking issue.
For the fifth week in a row, supporters of the Movement Against Parking Meters (MAPM) turned out in the hundreds to protest against the contract between City Hall and private company Smart City Solutions, which has been contracted to provide metered parking in Georgetown.
“We ain’t stopping til revocation. Hopefully all the pressure adds up,” MAPM member Don Singh stated.
About halfway through the one-hour demonstration, which is routinely held from midday to 1pm, a music cart operator, who was blasting the song ‘Postpone,’ joined the crowd, which had gravitated toward the pavement just bordering City Hall.
Led by Deputy Mayor Sherod Duncan, the group, which had been relatively motionless prior to the cart’s appearance, began marching behind the cart and made rounds on the Regent Street carriageway.
“So shout it from your motorcar, Facebook and cellphone/Play it on the radio, postpone,” Martin’s voice rang out.
The song, in speaking to the economic burdens of the parking meters, hyperbolizes its effects, listing extreme measures persons would have gone to in order to pay for parking, including selling their house and land, pawning their clothes, forsaking mortgage payments and depending on currency from relatives overseas.
“Dave is a Guyanese icon. We all remember him from ‘Not A Blade of Grass,’ which is a song that galvanized the Guyanese people in the 80s against a superior, Venezuela military threat. So Dave is a household name and we are honoured that Dave saw it fit to join this cause and to sing this song and basically put our feelings, our scorn and our frustration at this project into words,” MAPM member Learie Barclay commented.
In addressing whether this new aspect of the protest can be expected to become a regular feature, seeing as it threatens the concept of a ‘silent’ protest, he said, “Things evolve as they go by. The most important thing is we are going to be law-abiding and follow all the legal procedures, follow all of the laws at all times, you will find no sort of rabblerousing or no sort of disorderly conduct from us. We will continue to liaison with the police and obey their wishes at all times, but there are various forms the protest is going to take.”
Barclay related that in addition to ongoing legal proceedings against the parking meter contract, there are additional legal filings that will be pursued between this week and the next. The group’s petition has so far collected 15,000 signatures and should be closed off within the upcoming week, after which the MAPM will move to meet with officials. The petition can be accessed on the group’s Facebook page, ‘Say No to Parking Meters in Guyana.’
