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Prisoners continue clearing cemetery
Clearing of the cemetery in progress yesterday.
A meeting intended to further address the rehabilitation of the Le Repentir Cemetery at City Hall yesterday, did not come off as expected.
This newspaper understands that a few councillors, including Deputy Mayor Robert Williams, were prepared for the meeting, however, arrangements for the forum were not made by the relevant department.
Nevertheless, weeding was yesterday undertaken by prisoners under the watchful eyes of a prison officer.
The efforts of the prisoners, which included the use of a chain saw to cut thick brush, were yesterday being aided by the operators of brush cutters.
The prisoners’ assistance to clean the burial facility, commenced on Monday and came as a result of an agreement the City Engineer was able to forge recently.
According to Deputy Mayor Williams, the prisoners will continue to clear the burial ground which was not properly maintained over the years. He highlighted the fact, that at the moment the prisoners will only be tasked with cleaning a section of the cemetery in order to avoid bees that have inhabited it.
Just last week, a public forum was held at the municipality. It saw city residents offering their suggestions for the restoration of the cemetery. Several had offered their advice that a feasibility study be conducted in order to plot the way forward. However, all that has been engaged thus far, is the manual service of the prisoners.
At the public forum last week, the Deputy Mayor in acknowledging that the cemetery is in a deplorable condition, said that the cemetery has exceeded its original intent.
He pointed out that while the city expanded in 1970, the expansion did not cater to the burial location for citizens, thus, there were no discussion with village councils to have a combination of approaches for the use of other cemeteries within the city.
Additionally, Williams said that the expansion did not take into consideration Sophia as a Housing Community, since at that time it was an agriculture base. He disclosed that the area functioned as a reservoir for rainfall until the water reached the Liliendaal pump.
But although the area now accommodates a housing scheme, Williams said that arrangements were not made for those residents when they pass away.
The situation at the cemetery has however been compounded by a decision taken in 1995, to have the cemetery accommodate a temporary landfill site (Le Repentir Dump Site) which should not have continued it’s use for two years.
A total of five acres was afforded the landfill site, which today, occupies about 22 acres of the cemetery, further reducing the capacity of the facility. In addition, the lack of maintenance on the part of the municipality, has led to the burial ground becoming overwhelmed with overgrowth and remains in a dilapidated condition today.
Following deliberations at the recent meeting, the Advisory committee was formulated and comprise of a number of persons including prominent city residents, religious activists, representatives of funeral homes and other citizens along with the municipality who were expected to guide the restoration process.
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