Relatives of the dead lying in Le Repentir Cemetery will now be able to easily locate the tombs of their loved ones as the cemetery is being given a “facelift”.
Works are well under way to clean the cemetery and its environs as the overgrowth and garbage have been removed.
Lloyda Rollins, Engineer at the Ministry of Public Works and Communication, with responsibility for the project, in an interview with the Government Information Agency (GINA) stated that government is investing $15M to enhance Le Repentir and its surroundings.
“The scope of the work includes the removal of debris and garbage, and the trimming of overhanging trees, spraying overgrowth and cleaning the drains, as this would significantly beautify the cemetery,” Rollins said.
This project will also see additional areas in the cemetery in need of renovation being demarcated and prioritised.
Persons passing through the area told GINA reporter that they welcomed the idea and further recommended that government install street lights at the western half of the cemetery as the area is a haven for criminal elements who pounce on unsuspecting residents of the nearby community who use the passageway as a shortcut to and from their homes.
The cemetery’s 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 environs of Georgetown.
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, Public Works, City Council and the private sector, at stakeholders’ meeting, had established a multipartite committee to identify those areas in the city that need to be improved.
The public sector had also agreed to work with various stakeholders to help keep clean areas in the city that are used as dumpsites.
The Private Sector Commission has also agreed to work with its stakeholders in obtaining the requisite bins and to properly dispose of their garbage.
The Haags Bosch landfill site aback Eccles, East Bank Demerara, which became operational on February 1, with the aim of enhancing the city’s ability to cope with solid waste management, has led to the closure of Le Repentir, thereby facilitating restoration works to the cemetery.  (GINA)