LAST Thursday, Permanent Secretary of the Local Government Ministry, Collin Croal, accompanied the Georgetown Clean-Up Monitoring Team to Le Repentir to inspect the clean-up exercise which is under way in the cemetery.

According to a media release by the Permanent Secretary, at the cemetery, the team met with Superintendent of the Guyana Prison Service, Mr. Gladwin Samuels, whose administration was contracted to de-bush BLOCK 7, while Geoffrey

James Construction was contracted to de-bush BLOCKS 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6.
So far, the average rate of completion of the five blocks is approximately 70%. For the other 30%, the teams will undertake general removal of debris from the access roads, drains and from

between the tombs. Once the “sweep” is completed, pesticides will be applied to curtail the growth of new vegetation.
The release further stated that during the visit, Croal spoke on behalf of the ministry and noted that the ministry is pleased with the volume of work so far.
He observed that a number of tombs have been repainted, no doubt persons who were hindered from coming before the clean-up of the cemetery have started to look for tombs of their loved ones.
According to him, the contracts to de-bush BLOCKS 2 and 6 are being evaluated by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), and the contractual arrangement is expected to take effect in two weeks time.
He added that by the end of November, “We should be able to see from one end to the next of the cemetery.”
Croal also expressed his concerns, and echoed sentiments of the people about the maintenance of the cemetery.
He said that “This is a concern of the ministry, and we are [the ministry] is going to address this concern. The maintenance of the cemetery should be a concern of the Georgetown

municipality, since this is their responsibility.”