…with $15M Gov’t injection
THE restoration of Le Repentir Cemetery continues to move apace as government’s recent $15M provision is catering for spraying overgrowth in the cemetery and cleaning the drains.
It has also allowed for the demarcation and prioritisation of additional areas in the cemetery that need renovation. Le Repentir cemetery, the largest in Guyana, was prioritised for restoration as its surroundings had become overrun with vegetation.
A restoration committee, led by Minister of Transport and Hydraulics Robeson Benn, and comprising stakeholders from the private sector, the Mayor and City Council and the government had already earlier in the year begun developmental works in the cemetery.
Greater physical work will be executed, and this will be wrapped up with the additional support that has been provided, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government, Nigel Dharamlall, told the Government Information Agency (GINA) in an interview.
“It is critical to clean up some of the areas so that some level of decency and aesthetics will come forth within the environment of Le Repentir cemetery,” Dharamlall added.
The cemetery restoration is part of three main areas in which the government, through the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, is providing support to the City Council to improve the conditions in the city.
Another aspect of support has to do with city enhancement, for which government has provided the City Council with $16M.
The Ministries of Local Government, and Public Works, the City Council, and the private sector have established a multipartite committee to identify areas in the city that will be improved.
The public sector has also agreed to work with its various stakeholders to help keep clean areas in the city that function as dumpsites.
The Private Sector Commission has also agreed to work with its stakeholders in obtaining the requisite bins and to properly dispose of garbage put in them.
Government has also provided support to the City Council in the area of garbage collection. In addition to providing some of the equipment to assist the council in disposing of garbage after the recent strike action by private garbage collectors, Government also injected money into the council to assist with some of the expenses incurred in this area.
Government’s intervention has allowed City Hall to pay the outstanding sums owing to the contracted garbage collectors, offsetting the strike and regularising the city’s garbage collection.
“It is unfortunate though that the Government has been leading the City Hall in many of its efforts, because the City Council is supposed to be responsible for the administration of the affairs of the city,” Dharamlall said.
“As government, we need to take some leadership in ensuring that the city of Georgetown move forward,” Dharamlall said. (GINA)