HGP Nightly News – Attorney General Anil Nandlall has strongly opposed any move to bring parking meters back to Georgetown, warning that the Government will not allow the return of what remains one of the city’s most controversial projects. His remarks come after Mayor Alfred Mentore signalled an interest in revisiting the initiative as a possible response to traffic congestion and as a way to generate revenue for City Hall. But Nandlall’s response makes clear that the proposal is already facing firm resistance at the national level, particularly given the legal and political fallout that followed the first attempt to install parking meters in the capital.
Speaking on the issue, the Attorney General said the Government will not support the reintroduction of any parking meter contract and warned that anyone attempting to enter into such an arrangement could face serious consequences. He cautioned that no agreement should be pursued that could impose further liability on the State, particularly in light of the financial and legal difficulties that emerged from the original project. While he said the Government would allow the public to respond to the mayor’s comments, his message was unmistakable: any attempt to revive parking meters will be blocked.
The issue carries deep public sensitivity because the original parking meter project, introduced in 2017 under the APNU+AFC administration, sparked major protests, legal challenges and widespread criticism. Many residents objected to the terms of the contract and the burden the system would place on motorists, and the backlash quickly turned the initiative into one of the most fiercely opposed municipal projects in recent history. Although the meters were eventually halted, the matter did not end there. It remains before an international tribunal, with a final ruling still pending, meaning the controversy continues to cast a long shadow over any suggestion that the project could return in some form.
The renewed debate is unfolding at a time when relations between the Government and City Hall have already been strained over the management of Georgetown’s infrastructure. Only recently, the Government moved to reclaim control of 35 city streets from the Mayor and City Council, citing poor maintenance and concerns over the condition of the roads. Against that backdrop, Nandlall criticised the mayor for not taking responsibility for the broader management challenges facing the city, while also questioning whether parking meters offer any practical answer to Georgetown’s traffic and congestion problems.
His remarks suggest that, from the Government’s perspective, Georgetown’s difficulties require more effective and less divisive solutions than a return to a project that already triggered years of public anger and legal uncertainty. With the original parking meter dispute still unresolved and public memory of the controversy still fresh, the proposal has once again reopened debate over how the city should tackle congestion, improve revenue collection and manage its streets without repeating a policy that many citizens had firmly rejected.
