Following a backlash by the public regarding the cutting down of the century-old rubber trees in Mabaruma, the town council says it will engage forestry experts to determine whether the trees are a threat to lives of persons living in the town.
This was disclosed by Mayor Chris Phang, who told Stabroek News yesterday that the council has written a letter to the Guyana Forestry Commission requesting an evaluation of every tree on Philbert Pierre Avenue.
“The council decided that since we are the policymakers and we should do another consultation but before doing that we should get the relevant agencies to have a look at the trees,” he said.
He is hopeful that a team from the Georgetown office will be dispatched at their earliest convenience as they would like to present all the necessary information to residents before or during the consultation.
After an evaluation of the trees is done, a consultation among Mabaruma residents, Town Council, the Regional Democratic Council and the Ministry of Public Works will be held.
Phang said that he hopes the detailed information presented on the trees will be able to guide residents on making a decision because the fate of the trees has always been in their hands and will remain that way.
“If they want the trees to be removed, they will have to be removed, there is nothing the council can do because it is what the people wants,” Phang said.
The road expansion project in Mabaruma has been stalled since 2019 pending a decision on the part of residents regarding the removal of the trees.
The rubber trees were scheduled to be chopped down on Wednesday. However, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall, intervened and ordered that the planned cutting of the trees be halted until another consultation with residents takes place. Regional Chairman Brentnol Ashley had said that the residents made the decision to have the trees removed as they pose a threat to their lives and infrastructure.
Dharamlall had also ordered that the minutes from the previous consultation and names of participants be presented to him and that the Town Council work alongside the Ministry of Public Works to figure out a solution that will not require the cutting down of the historic trees.
The renewed plan to cut down the trees resuscitated an online petition that was created over a year ago and persons are once again calling on relevant authorities to ensure that the trees are preserved.
The rubber trees were planted approximately 101 years go by Philbert Pierre. Although there had been other tree planting exercises involving rubber trees, those had never been successful.
