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Climate change: Lagos acquires tree transplanting equipment Akinpelu Dada
A
RE you disturbed by the big trees in your premises. which have constituted a nuisance and are you thinking of cutting them down to create space? If yes. you may be running foul of the Lagos State Governmenf s law that prohibits the felling of trees. and unwittingly exacerbating the negative effects of climate change by depleting a critical resource th at soaks up carbon emission from human activities. In order to prevent further depletion of trees
in the metropolis, th e state government has purchased three specialised motorised equipment that uproot full y grown trees and successfully transplant them in other locations Th e Big John Tree T ransp lante r is manufactured in the United States for uprooting trees and transplanting th em in different locations wi thout causing damages to their roots. stems and leaves, wh ile guaranteeing th eir continuous growth . The Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Muiz Banire. who inaugurated the equipment on Friday.
said wi th the availability of the motonsed equipment, people no longer had cause to cut trees again as all th ey needed to do was to contact the ministry, wh ich wou ld deploy the eq uipm ent to uproot trees fr om their original locations withou t losing th e surrounding soil and transplant th em in more auspicious places. Alth ough h e did not disclose the amount to be paid by individuals , who wanted trees relocated from their premises. the commissioner said that such an individual would have to pay a token to cover th e cost of removal depending
on the size of the tree and the distance to be covered. adding that the charges wou ld be affordable since it was a social service. H e explain ed that the equip men t were in three sizes of 80. 90 and 100 diameters to uproot and transplant trees of different
sizes. Banire disclosed that six o fficials of the ministry were sent to the US for training by the manufacturers on how to handle and maintain the equipment. whi l e consultants had also been engaged to come arou nd every six months to service the equipment. He added
that arrange m ents were on to send the drivers and operators of the equipment abroad for further training. The Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mrs. Titi Anibaba. said part of the equipment was acquired to comple ment the sta te governm ent's decision to green Lagos. She explained that th e governmen t had , three yea rs ago, commenced beautification and greening works in th e city through landscaping and urban renewal projects. She said it was obvious that the urban renewal projects co uld not be
successfully carried out without the need to transplant some trees from their original locations. noting that the ministry had conducted an enumeration exercise to know the type of trees that were available in the state and their locations. Anibaba said that it was important to plant more trees in view of the incidence of climate change and its effects
on human existence. The equipmen t is already bei n g used to transplant coconut trees along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway because of the ongoing road expansion project. particu larly at the Volkswagen area of 0)0.
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T
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Sinking
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