7 October 2023 12:01 am Views - 668
By Yohan Perera
Corruption had hampered the felling and maintenance of trees in Colombo City, former Council member alleged yesterday.
Former Member of Colombo Municipal Council Shermila Gonawala told Daily Mirror only trees with high commercial value are given priority when it comes to maintenance of trees in Colombo City. “Only trees with high commercial value are often felled to prune when it comes to maintenance of trees in the city. This is because they fell the trees and sell them for timber. They earn large sums of money through this scam. Other trees which are old and vulnerable are hardy focused” she said.
“There is another social ill as those who are sent to fell trees in residential areas demand high amounts of money from the residents to cut a tree down or to prune,” she added.
Meanwhile, it was also reported that a plan to obtain the services of a tree surgeon (an expert on maintaining trees) was never implemented.