The final decision regarding the possible cutting down of the century-old rubber trees that line the Philbert Pierre Avenue in Mabaruma is expected to be made later this month, Mayor of the township, Chris Phang said.
Despite launching a survey to see how many Mabaruma residents are in favour of the cutting down of the trees, Phang related that the initiative was not as successful as he had hoped it would be. However, he told Stabroek News via telephone, that a meeting will be held on December 21st for residents and councillors to make a final decision. On that date, he said, he hopes that a lot of residents would turn up and get themselves involved in the decision-making process.
When asked if the council would take into consideration the signatures of the petition that was launched against the cutting of trees, he said, the people will have to make a decision on that as well.
The proposal to cut down all the trees to facilitate the expansion of a road in the town was revealed during a consultation held between residents and the Ministry of Public Infrastructure project engineer several weeks ago. According to Phang, only a few residents had attended that consultation.
However, after the proposal was made public, hundreds of persons expressed their outrage against it and a petition was launched and handed over to the Deputy Mayor of Mabaruma, who handed it over to the mayor a few weeks ago. The petition was signed by 2,359 persons at last count.
