The office at the parking lot.
PHILIPSBURG--Persons who have been parking for free at the government’s public parking lot at Clem Labega Square in the past months, will have to start paying again as of this Monday, December 20, when the collection of payment for parking will resume.
Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs said on Thursday that resumption of the physical collection of payment had to start on Wednesday last, but did not go ahead as sufficient advertisement of the resumption was not done.
“The boom [at the parking lot –Ed.] wasn’t working. Due to electrical issues, it was not reinstalled in the parking lot,” Jacobs told Members of Parliament (MPs) on Thursday in response to questions about the matter. “After much discussion, at least it was being supervised, as it was really crazy for a while. Efforts are underway to purchase an electronic payment system, but while that is being done, because proposals have to be made... etc., we are working towards reopening the parking lot with manual collection of fees effective Monday, December 20, once we have made the necessary public notifications and placed proper signage. It was actually slated to commence on Wednesday, however, due to not having made enough announcements about it, we postponed it to start on Monday.”
A press release about the reopening of the parking lot on Thursday afternoon stated that the lot will “reopen” just in time for the holiday season. “Philipsburg shoppers will have an opportunity to utilize the parking lot in the final days leading up to Christmas Eve,” it was stated in the release.
The parking lot will open from Monday to Saturday from 7:00am to 10:00pm. Parking will be free on Sundays. Persons using the parking lot will have to pay NAf. 4 or US $2 for the first hour and US $1 for each additional hour. Persons who lose their tickets will be required to pay the full day charge of NAf. 50 or US $28. According to the release, persons using the parking lot will be parking at their own risk.
