City picks Robin Hunte, Owen Edwards for metered parking negotiations

City Hall’s new metered parking renegotiation committee now has two noncouncil members.

Robin Hunte, a lawyer and accountant and Owen Edwards an engineer were on Monday selected by a majority of the council to join the seven councillors on the committee.

Also nominated were Pamela Arthur, a retired teacher and Joseph Eastman, another accountant.

Last Monday a new negotiating committee was elected by the Mayor and City Councillors to renegotiate the metered parking contract with Smart City Solutions (SCS).

It is still unclear whether SCS is amenable to any renegotiation. It has not been heard from publicly for months.

Six of the committee’s councillors are from APNU and one from Team Benschop for Mayor. The new committee will be headed by APNU Councillor Akeem Peter, with Councillor Noelle Chow-Chee as the vicechairman. Chow-Chee also served as vice-chair of the last renegotiation committee. Other members of the committee include veteran Councillor Oscar Clarke, APNU Councillors Ivelaw Henry, Heston Bostwick, James Samuels, and Jameel Rassul from Team Benschop for Mayor. PPP/C Councillor Bishram Kuppen was also nominated during the process, but declined the nomination. A nomination was also made for Deputy Mayor Lionel Jaikarran, but due to his absence from Monday’s sitting, the nomination was not accepted.

Fifteen councillors voted for the committee, with Kuppen voting against the nominations while APNU Councillors Alfred Mentore and Roopnarine Persaud, and Team Legacy’s Malcolm Ferreira abstained.