THE Military Cemetery at Eve Leary in Georgetown is the most recent addition to be declared National Heritage Sites where signs were erected during Tourism Awareness Month in November.

The burial ground holds the remains of British servicemen who died in World Wars One and Two and during peacetime in British Guiana.

The bodies had originally been buried at Atkinson Field (now Timehri) but 24 from the Commonwealth were removed to Rabbit Walk, Eve Leary, in August 1993, on the 1983 recommendation of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Other sites identified last month were Seven Ponds-Place of Heroes, in the Botanical Gardens and Parade Ground, both also in the city and Mission Chapel Congregational Church in New Amsterdam, Berbice.

Another, Christianburg Waterways in Wismar, Linden, was unveiled yesterday.

British High Commissioner to Guyana, Mr Edward Glover, who officiated at the recent unveiling of the concrete sign that reads British Military Cemetery 1824, said the War Graves Commission is charged by the British Government to maintain all Commonwealth graves worldwide, from Myanmar (formerly Burma) to the Caribbean.

The British Government finances the maintenance here and the Police do the work.

The designer of the Heritage Signs, is Mr Egbert Carter, who is a member of the Board of National Trust and was commissioned to make 10 on the mutual agreement of the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce and Organisation of American States (OAS).

The similar design was influenced by Carter's observations while living abroad.

He told the Government Information Agency (GINA):"When I was in London, I noticed that, for most of their sites, the signs were standardised, so that, if you were not familiar with the site, you would recognise this has to be a national heritage site.

And so I followed the same mode by standardising the shape of our signs. So, over the years, hopefully, people will become accustomed to seeing the signs and associating them with the National Trust, Carter explained.

He said they are like those in Europe but larger and are made of concrete instead of metal and painted white with black lettering.

Carter and three other persons are making them, taking about four days each, every one costing some $34,000, to be completed by year-end.

Ms Allyson Stoll of National Trust said their visibility and significant historic value were the criteria used for determining which should be named heritage sites.

Forts Nassau and Kyk-Over-Al, Damon's Statue, all in Essequibo and the 1763 Monument in the capital are on the list, too.