Hours after the Mayor of Linden cited the Linden Town Council By-laws that were gazetted in 2016 and allowed for the collection of tolls from commercial vehicles entering the town of Linden, Minister of Local Government, Priya Manickchand revoked those By-laws and quickly gazetted the move.

In her initial letter instructing the Linden Town Clerk to cease the collection of tolls, Manickchand stated that the toll collection was “null, void and unlawful”, and that there was no by-law or order that had been issued and published by the Minister with responsibility for Local Government authorizing such charges.

It was after receiving her letter that the Mayor issued his statement pointing out that the toll collection was indeed lawful, was part of the town’s By-laws and was gazetted since 2016.

By late Tuesday afternoon, the Minister of Local Government moved to revoke the gazetted By-laws. The revocation notice was published today in the national gazette.

The Linden Mayor had inquired in his statement that if the Government’s position is that the 2016 By-Laws have since been repealed, revoked, superseded or otherwise rendered ineffective, the Minister should identify the specific legal instrument by which that result was achieved.

The Mayor said the Council now faces the prospect of losing another source of revenue through the Minister’s directive concerning the Kara Kara toll collection, and he wants answers.

He said the Central Government cannot remove municipal revenue while simultaneously expecting the Council to continue providing services efficiently, adding that in the Council’s view, this amounts to “financial strangulation rather than genuine local-government empowerment”.

Former Mayor of Linden, Waneka Arrindell in a statement of her own last evening said If a municipal by-law was lawfully made, approved by the responsible Minister and subsequently gazetted, thereby acquiring the force of law, then the people of Linden deserve to know the legal basis upon which that authority can now simply be set aside.

She said if the Linden Town Council (Toll) By-Laws 2016 were repealed, revoked, amended, superseded or otherwise rendered legally ineffective, then the instrument that accomplished this should be identified, and if there is another law that now prevents the Council from exercising the authority contained in those by-laws, then that law should be identified.

The town of Linden stands to lose just over $100 Million per year in revenue with the removal of the commercial toll system.

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Linden Mayor Cites Gazetted By-Laws for Toll Collection; Challenges Minister to Prove Repeal Government shuts down Linden Town Council’s collection of toll from commercial vehicles entering town Linden Town Council facing financial crisis following removal of Bridge toll Local Government Ministry halts Linden toll collection