City of Mbombela chops down trees just before Arbor Week
National Arbor Week begins tomorrow - yet the local municipality chopped down old majestic mahogany trees along the R40 near the old show grounds.
MBOMBELA – Mbombela municipality spokesman, Joseph Ngala said the felling of the trees along the R40 was commissioned by the City of Mbombela. “This was done after the area was duly inspected and some were trees identified for felling, due to them posing a danger to motorists as they were old and unstable.”
He said due diligence was done before the contractor was appointed to do so. Botanical garden curator, Taki Mamatsharaga said the trees did not pose a danger to motorists due to they were far away from the road.
“Also most of the trees were mahogany, which is known for extremely hard sturdiness. The wood is normally found in antiques. So how can they find the trees unstable?”
He said the situation was extremely sad, as the damage was done already. “I would like to know do all the trees now near roads in the city pose a danger? Is the municipality going to chop them all down?”
Fever Tree Nursery owner, Troos van der Merwe said the trees were old, senile and there were many dead branches.
“This was due to parasites on the branches. The trees had been there for a very long time. My personal opinion is I would still be happy if the municipality went and replanted triple the number of trees they chopped down somewhere else.”
National Arbor Week is celebrated in the first week of September annually and is an opportune time to call on all South Africans to plant indigenous trees as a practical and symbolic gesture of sustainable environmental management.
