THE Public Works Ministry undertook massive works to restore Le Repentir Cemetery in Georgetown late last year but the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) is, currently, doing nothing to maintain what was done. This was reported yesterday by Mr. Ranwell Jordan, who chairs the Markets and Public Health Committee which has responsibility for the burial ground.
He told the Guyana Chronicle that no maintenance is being done because there has not been any meeting of the committee recently.
“I made several attempts to get the Town Clerk (Yonnette Pluck) to call these meetings but to no avail,” Councillor Jordan disclosed.
He said, at the statutory meeting of the Council last Monday, he complained that there are a number of issues surrounding markets and public health that ought to be dealt with urgently.
Jordan recalled that he made a proposal for a crematorium to be established in view of the fact that Le Repentir is out of space but managed to get nowhere with it.
He also said the word around was that the cemetery was going to be handed over to a private company but he emphasised the importance of its restoration.
“It’s important because we have to cater for the dead. The municipality should cater for activities from the womb to the tomb,” Jordan declared.
However, he said the Council has not received any report on the present state of Le Repentir and it has since returned to its deplorable condition.

OVERRUN
The clearing of vegetation and cleaning of drains came to an end around mid-November last year although the largest burial ground in Guyana was prioritised to be restored, as it had become overrun with vegetation, creating an eyesore.
It was for that reason the government intervened to assist the M&CC, by providing $15M for spraying overgrowth and cleaning the drainage.
The intention of the Public Works Ministry was to have the place handed back to the municipality after the works would have been completed.
For last year alone, the Ministry reportedly spent $700M on undertakings across the city, which included repairs to City Hall.
According to Public Works Minister Robeson Benn, government has proved itself to be a reliable partner, in terms of development of the capital and all other urban areas.
A restoration committee, led by Benn and comprising stakeholders from the Private Sector and the M&CC, had, last year, begun developmental works in the cemetery.