Tbilisi City Council MPs demand suspension of agreement with C.T. Park
By Messenger Staff
Friday, November 11
Independent member of Tbilisi City Council (Sakrebulo) Aleko Elisashvili and Republicans’ member Davit Zurabishvili, have called on the Mayor’s Office of Tbilisi to immediately suspend its agreement with the parking regulatory company in the capital, City Park.
Elisashvili says the service costs and rules have raised various questions about the company amongst Tbilisi residents, who disapprove the work of the company.
The independent MP of the city council disapproves of the steps taken by the Mayor’s Office, which stated many times that the conditions of the unprofitable contract with the City Park would be changed,however the stustion still remains the same.
The Mayor’s Office stated earlier it could not abolish the agreement with the company, because according to the international auditing company Ernst & Young, the cancellation of the agreement will cost the Mayor’s office 25 million GEL in expenses as penalty.
Elisashvili and Zurabishvili call on City Hall to pay the fine, saying that since August 2014, the amount of fines paid by Tbilisi residents to C.T. Park amounted to 62 million GEL, and only 18 million GEL was transferred to Tbilisi budget.
As the MPs noted, the City Hall and City Park contract is valid until 2025, which means that within this period the parking company will receive more than 270 million GEL from the people.
“We demand that the Mayor’s Office abolish this agreement and pay the 25 million GEL fine to the company from the Tbilisi 2017 budget. Parking should be a municipal service, and it should be governed by City Hall until a new tender is announced,” stated Elisashvili.
Tbilisi's Mayor responded to the MPs, saying it is impossible to suspend the agreement now, because City Hall does not have 25 million GEL to pay to the company.
“This idea needs more arguments. I think the city should not become a victim of such irresponsible and reckless statements. The previous government made a one-sided agreement with City Park and it does not enable us to suspend the agreement,” the Mayor stated.
The contract with C.T. Park was signed in 2007 during the previous government, and it expires in 2025.
The popular opinion over the issue reveals that many think that this agreement was concluded for the benefit of certain high rank officials of the UNM.
