Flooding, Le Repentir Cemetery major focus of $1B clean-up campaign

Jun 18, 2014 News

By Zena Henry
The massive $1B cleanup project advanced by the government is gaining momentum with the start-up process being put in place. Citizens, especially those in the city are expected to get some relief as some $100M is expected to be spent on Le Repentir Cemetery, while the revitalization of public assets and the implementation of flood preventative measures are expected to get special attention during the projected six month-long project.
During a press conference dealing with the current status of the programme, Minister of Local Government Norman Whittaker related that special emphasis would be placed on flooding.
“One of the primary contributors of flooding is the absence of proper drainage so that excess water resulting from rainfall could be removed within a specific time. And one of the biggest contributors also, is the fact that City Council has been unable or unwilling to desilt the main and internal drains that water can flow freely.”
The Minister said the drains (in the city) are heavily silted and filled with garbage. Focus will thus be placed on seven canals, including the Downer Canal, Young Street Canal, Lamaha and Princes Street, among others. He also mentioned repair and possible rebuilding of kokers.
Whittaker said that the Local Government Ministry, which is the executing agency for the national campaign, will in some cases be looking to restore public assets, even those under the control of the City Council. These assets include sluices, main canals, parapets, alleyways, cemeteries, monuments, public spaces, markets, and the seawall. As it relates to solid waste, the Minister said a number of illegal dumps sites have been identified and special focus would be on the garbage problem.
The city’s largest cemetery, Le Repentir, is expected to receive an estimated $100M out of the budgeted $500M which is slated for the capital.
Whittaker said “it’s a lot of work; the heavy bush will be cleared along with drains etc”.
He said that the $1B project is now in its tendering, public awareness and capacity building stage and as such, there is no official launch date as yet. Currently, the Ministry is working with several stakeholders; the various Ministries, private sector, local government bodies and civil society in moving the exercise forward. Out of these stakeholders, a Technical committee has been set up, comprising representatives to oversee the billion-dollar clean-up campaign.
“The committee will plan, coordinate and provide oversight of the project, and they will report to the Local Government Ministry’s Permanent Secretary directly,” the Minister asserted.
The government during the 2014 budget debate informed the nation that one billion dollars would be expended on a massive cleaning up exercise, of which half the amount would be spent on Georgetown.
With the split between the government and the Mayor and City Council, the capital’s oversight body, words have already been exchanged about the implementation of the project without the input of the Mayor and Councillors. The Ministry has noted however that it has engaged the Council, specifically the Town Clerk (acting) and the City Engineer.
The Council has expressed interest in the maintenance phase of the project since according to the Deputy Mayor, “a clean-up is one thing, but maintaining the work is another”.
The Minister has emphasized however, that City Hall will not have any financial involvement in the project.
“The objective of the activity is to enhance the physical environment and also, if we are to sustain this project…to build capacity of existing institutions so that effective maintenance of the assets can continue when the clean-up exercise is completed,” Whittaker said in conclusion.

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Flooding, Le Repentir Cemetery major focus of $1B clean-up campaign

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