[www.inewsguyana.com] – Le Repentir cemetery is on the verge of a massive cleanup of the now deteriorated main burial ground which could begin as early as next month.
Close to $100M of the total of $500M set aside for the clean-up programme for the City is expected to be expended on the venture, which is at present being advertised.
The Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development expects to see by July 8 the opening of tenders and for the rehabilitation work to commence on the cemetery by the latter part of July with a target of completing works by December, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Norman Whittaker said today.
Minister Whittaker, who was at the time addressing the media inside the cemetery, noted the eyesore that the burial site has become. The Minister was part of a delegation that visited some of the areas that will be addressed under the massive city clean-up exercise, to examine the present conditions and the nature of the works to be done.
“I remember this area as a little boy, we used to come play cricket and to play hide and seek around these tombs. Now we can play guerrilla warfare here,” he said. 
The work on the cemetery, which stretches from St Steven Street all the way to Princes Street, will entail de-bushing vegetation, cleaning of the internal drains and repairing the damage to the roads within the cemetery. “…in short, we are going to pay respects to those who lie here and at the same time improve the aesthetics of the area,” Minister Whittaker said.
Project Manager, Solid Waste Department Programme Gordon Giles, who also formed part of the visiting delegation explained that clearing the internal drains is essential to draining the burial ground.Giles also said that the roads within the grounds, in spite of being built some years ago, remain in very good condition. Their foundation of crusher run and crushed bricks remain, but are now filled with grass, other vegetation and mud.
Giles said that the intention is to expose the base of the roads; grade and shape them and then to seal with crusher run.
Le Repentir, the largest burial site in Guyana has for the best part of a decade and a half deteriorated to a situation that can only be described as a shocking affront to the remains of those who now rest in its grounds.
[Extracted and modified from GINA]
