The Guyana Forestry Com-mission has completed its examination of the at-risk century-old rubber trees that line the Philbert Pierre Avenue in Mabaruma, Region One, and has handed over its report to the Mayor and Town Council.
This was confirmed by the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Nigel Dharamlall who told Stabroek News that while he does not know the content of the report, it will be made public after it is discussed by the relevant stakeholders.
The rubber trees were scheduled to be chopped down during the latter part of January to facilitate the expansion of a road in Maba-ruma. However, Dharamlall intervened and ordered that the planned cutting be halted until another consultation with residents takes place. Regional Chairman Brentnol Ashley had defended the decision to cut down the trees saying that that residents have complained that they pose a threat to them.
Dharamlall stated that now that the examination of the trees has been completed and the report handed over to the town council, he expects that a consultation with residents of Mabaruma will be held in the coming days. He added that he hopes that the engineers from the Ministry of Public Work (MoPW) can be there to help figure out a solution so that roadworks can continue. He noted that roadworks are currently progressing at a slow place so he hopes that the issue is sorted out as soon as possible.
After the cutting down was halted, the town council said that they would engage forestry experts to determine whether the trees are a threat to lives of persons living in the town.
Mayor Chris Phang had told Stabroek News that the consultation will include Mabaruma residents, the Town Council, the Regional Democratic Council and relevant authorities from MoPW.
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 planted approximately 101 years go by Philbert Pierre. Although there had been other tree planting exercises involving rubber trees, those had never been successful.
