The Cemetery Expansion Master Plan – part 1

Feb 06, 2022 Letters

Dear Editor,

The Le Repentir cemetery is the final resting place of many of our citizens. It has a sober reflective place for families who memorialise the dearly departed and is also the resting place of prominent historical figures in Guyana’s history.
The Le Repentir which was established in March 1861 is the largest municipal burial site in Guyana. The cemetery’s existing ground covers approximately 103.508 acres. It is in the Lodge district of Georgetown bounded by St Stephen Street on the west by Sussex Street, on the South by Princes Street on the north and Vlissingen Road on the east.
The cemetery also comprises an extension located from Vlissingen Road eastward to Mandela Avenue. This expanse of ground has been plagued with challenges of maintenance owing to its large size and limited human resource to maintain and monitor its grounds. The current operable sections within the cemetery are filled with overgrown weeds and clogged drains. There are also challenges of illegal dumping of garbage within the cemetery grounds and unauthorised activity.
At present, the Le Repentir Cemetery is in an unsightly appearance and lacking the requisite human, financial, operational and maintenance plans to sustain its viability. Several projects have been executed in the short term to clean and secure the facility however are financially unstainable at the current revenue allocation.
The Cemetery Needs Analysis (2017) and Cemetery Master Plan (2017) established the need for additional space and a range of interment options to serve the City’s residents. The Council secured, an additional potion of land east of the current cemetery bounded by Cemetery Road on the west, Princes on the south, Mandela Avenue on the East and Toucan Street on the north extension of Le-Repentir which adjoins the eastern boundary of the cemetery. The intent of this land acquisition was for enhancing drainage in the area and accommodate cemetery expansion.
It is the Council’s vision that the Le Repentir Cemetery should be an architectural or landscape architectural feature that portrays the significance and dignity of a national cemetery without overpowering the visitor. The design should incorporate landscaping, such as trees and low maintenance plantings. The use of colour in plantings should be considered in the design solution. The entrance is symbolic of an entrance to a national “shrine” and provides a link to historical or traditional national cemetery “entrance gates” without directly imitating their form. The entrance area design and use of materials should be consistent with other cemetery structures.
The Le Repentir must be a modern cemetery with historical characteristics elevated to the status of a National Monument.
Mayor and Councilors of the City of Georgetown

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The Cemetery Expansion Master Plan – part 1

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