An employee of Enviroscape Company Ltd. works on the trees at Potter’s Cay Dock. (BIS photo/Letisha Henderson)
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NASSAU,
The Bahamas -- The pruning of trees at the southern foreshore of Potter’s Cay
Dock has been completed in preparation for their removal: once the trees have been removed work can
begin on creating a parking lot for patrons of the vendors on the dock.
Tree
pruning is a programme of the first phase of re-development of the eastern end
of Potter’s Cay Dock.
The
Government has allocated $3,122,989.00 for the re-development project, which is
going to take place in three phases. It
is a product of private and public sector involvement with many of the ideas
for the re-development coming from the mailboat operators and various
governmental agencies.
Assistant
Port Controller/Port Department Craig Curtis said the new parking lot will play
a big part in the re-development as it will alleviate congestion on the
causeway where individuals have been allowed to park.
“What
this does is sometimes cause a disruption in services for some of the
stakeholders on the dock. If you note at
the entrance sometimes, there are persons who patronise the vendors on the
dock. They park on both sides of the
entrance causeway, which narrows the turning basin for 40-foot containers.
“Once
a 40-foot container is trying to get onto Potter’s Cay Dock, and persons park
and patronise the vendors, you have to look for them for hours to come and move;
and once we are looking for them traffic is already backed up onto Bay Street.”
He
said, “So we are seeking to provide alternative parking because moving forward
we are going to eliminate parking on the causeways. Persons would now be ushered into the
proposed parking lot where those trees are now, in addition to one or two
parking areas on the dock.”
The
Assistant Port Controller said after the trees have been removed, the entire
area from the old Water & Sewerage Complex all the way up to William Street
will be levelled.
He
noted the grassy areas that now exist are mounds of old conch shells that came
from Potter’s Cay Dock and will be levelled and graded to start the parking
lot. In addition, once the grading is
completed the utility companies will come in and put their infrastructure in to
accommodate the lighting, water and drainage.
Mr.
Curtis explained that pruning is vital before a tree can be removed.
“Once
trees in the area of concern have been identified for removal, they have to
undergo a process which is called pruning where workers dig around the roots of
the trees and put water on them to loosen the roots a bit from the soil so that
it would not create too much stress when it is time to remove them.
“If
you just try to remove a tree in an effort of transplanting, you are going to
damage that tap root, and once the tap root is damaged, then the tree
dies. So what the landscaping company is
seeking to do is engage the pruning exercise to de-stress the trees in
preparation for removal.”
The
Assistant Port Controller said although the trees will be moved out of the
area, they are not going to be destroyed -- some are going to be replanted into
the general landscape of the parking lot, and others replanted in other areas
on the dock.
“There
have also been requests for some of those trees to be planted in some of the
other industrial areas. For example, I
know for certain that some of them will be replanted at the entrance of the
Harold Road dumpsite. They want to
beautify that area and they could use some of those trees.”
He
added that the Bahamas National Trust and the Botanical Gardens also expressed
an interest in receiving some of the trees.
Enviroscape Company Ltd
.
began the pruning exercise on Tuesday, May 19, 2015, but the trees must sit for
almost three or four weeks before consideration for removal.