More than a year after the government had set out to restore the Le Repentir Cemetery, the burial ground has returned to its deplorable state and has caught the attention of the public.
In a letter to the editor published in yesterday’s edition of the Stabroek News, Joycelyn Williams said that there are no words that can accurately describe the state of the Georgetown cemetery.
She suggested that the Ministry of Local Govern-ment put in place a new management structure, such as a Trust, that allows for more participation by civil society.
“This is a perfect opportunity for a Trust to be appointed which should of necessity include the ministers and leaders of the Christian community (Guy-ana Council of Churches and Georgetown Ministers Fellowship) who with members arguably utilize and visit this cemetery more than any other religious denomination,” Williams wrote.
During a brief visit to the cemetery yesterday, Stabroek News observed tall vegetation covering most of the tombs and in some parts it would be impossible for persons to walk through as the bushes are up to 10 feet tall.
Mayor of Georgetown, Hamilton Green, had said in June 2011 that while he is not a member of the Cemetery Restoration Committee he was able to say that canals would have to be redone, tombs rebuilt and even some replanting would have to be completed.
The government had at that time provided the Mayor and City Council with $182 million for various purposes, $16 million of which was to be used for the rehabilitation work.
When contacted yesterday, Chairman of the Public Health and Markets Committee, Ranwell Jordan, told Stabroek News that although the cemetery falls under the Public Health and Markets Committee, the council has not engaged in discussions about the cemetery’s issues for some time.
“The government had injected millions into a project there after citizens contacted the ministry and minister himself and they did some work there like clearing some vegetation,” he said, adding that the council received no report on that operation.
Jordan said there has been no plan for maintenance since that work was executed, citing it as a total waste of money. “There was no proper plan put in place so it gone back to the way it was. There are no plans to do rehabilitation,” he affirmed.
When asked about his thoughts of the writer’s suggestion for installing a body for the cemetery’s management, Jordan said he would support a decision such as that, once the site will be transformed and maintained.
“I will support this decision if the body which is given the responsibility to take care of the cemetery brings it back to the condition of what it is expected to be in,” he said. Jordan noted that the new grouping would have to give serious consideration to the issue of maintenance.
The councillor further highlighted that a suggestion was made to have a modern crematorium constructed in an area of the cemetery but the council was told that there is insufficient land for this.
“It was said that we don’t have an adequate plot of land but I disagree with this. Just as you enter the main gate, past the offices, there was a building there which housed a mortuary and a chapel but it has deteriorated over time. That area and around it have been taken up with burial sites but there is still a vacant plot. Once we have interested businesses and companies to support it, it is still something we want to do,” he said.
Stabroek News also raised the question of the four garbage receptacles which were donated by a Georgetown businessman not being placed around Georgetown but Jordan was unable to provide an answer to this.
Mayor and City Council Public Relations Officer, Royston King, who was also contacted about this said that the appropriate officer to answer would be Director of the City’s Solid Waste Management Department, Hubert Urlin.
However, when contacted Urlin doubted that the PRO would have referred this newspaper to him, noting that he is unaware of why the receptacles have not been put into use.
“I don’t think Mr. King would have told you I’m the appropriate person to speak to. I honestly don’t know why they haven’t been placed around the city,” he said. When asked for a suggestion as to who should be made answerable, Urlin said someone from the Mayor’s office and after further prompting, he said the PRO.
Pulcharran Sukhdeo had donated the receptacles to be placed around the city. The man had made the containers at his welding shop and had told this newspaper that the total cost was $350,000.
