– ‘We should be able to see from one end of the cemetery to the next by the end of November,’ says Collin Croal

REPRESENTATIVES from the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development (MLGRD), including the Permanent Secretary Mr Collin Croal, last Thursday made site visits to several communities within Georgetown including Le Repentir Cemetery to inspect the ongoing cleanup exercises in the various areas.Accompanying the team were representatives from Caribbean Chemicals whose expertise was solicited to address the issue of rapid increase of new-grown vegetation throughout the cemetery.
Upon examining the current state of the vegetation in the cemetery, the company representatives advised the Ministry’s team that the new shoots of grass and the new growth protruding from the tree stumps are at a perfect stage to apply the appropriate pesticides. Once the pesticides are applied, the results are expected to last for at least 6 months depending on weather patterns.
The spraying of the weeds and treatment of the tree stumps are expected to commence in two weeks. According to Mr. Croal, the contracts to de-bush Blocks 2 and 6 are being evaluated by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board, and the contractual arrangement is expected to take effect in two weeks’ time. According to Croal, “By the end of November, we should be able to see from one end to the next of the Cemetery.”
So far Blocks 1, 3, 4, 5 and 7 are approximately 70% completed, and in excess of 50 swarms of Africanised bees (each containing as many as 65,000 bees) have been removed and placed in hives.
Present at the inspection were Gladwin Samuels, Superintendent of Guyana Prisons Service whose Administration was contracted to de-bush Block 7, and representatives from Geoffrey James Construction which was contracted to de-bush Blocks 1, 3, 4 and 5.