C'River Assembly Requests Removal Of Aged, Frail Trees In Calabar Metropolis
By Our Reporter
The State Legislature has adopted a resolution calling on the Calabar Urban Development Authority to urgently carry out an assessment of ornamental trees planted by then governor Donald Duke to guard against windstorms while enhancing the aesthetics of Calabar in furtherance to a clean and green environment.
The House has also urged relevant State agencies to ensure that urban forestry in Calabar metropolis is properly planned in order to forestall further accidents.
The adoption of the resolutions followed a matter of urgent public interest brought before the House by the Member representing Yala II state constituency, Hon. Ogiji Martins Achado, titled "Danger of ornamental trees in Calabar."
Achado pointed out that most of the trees in Calabar Metropolis were planted in the 2000s, adding that the trees which are over 20 years are prone to falling down during rainfall or wind and in the process causing accidents. He gave instances where such trees have caused accidents and in some cases resulting in the death of several persons.
Contributing to the debate, member representing Akamkpa I, Hon. Okon Owuna, observed that some of the trees have over lived their usefulness and called on the Ministry of Environment to urgently take statistics of all trees in the Metropolis to ensure that the old ones are cut down while new ones are planted.
Other Lawmakers in their contributions to the debate, agreed that there have been several cases of the trees falling on people, homes and vehicles adding that they should be felled down to forestall any further accidents.
