by CARLOS ATWELL

AN OLD MAHOGANY TREE is causing grave concern to residents of Cane Vale Gap, Christ Church.

Richard Medford sees himself as being in the most immediate danger, as the tree, which has been in the area for over 40 years, is directly across the road from his house.

"We are now in the hurricane season and that tree is rotten. If it falls and damages my house, it will become a court case," he warned.

Medford said he had contacted the Ministry of Public Works (MPW) and Barbados Light & Power (BL&P), but nothing had been done as MPW said the tree stood on private property and BL&P said it only trimmed branches, not cut down trees.

"It has high tension wires running through it and can give you a buzz if you happen to touch it when it's wet. Not only that, but vehicles have to divert off the tree and trucks often hit it when they pass," he said.

Because of this, Medford took the initiative to place a reflector on the tree and to paint the base yellow to warn traffic passing at night. Both measures were no longer in place as the reflector was removed and the paint had worn off.

Agnes Arthur, who lives with Medford, said she spoke to Member of Parliament for the area, Jerome Walcott, about the matter previously.

Mike Welch, of nearby Glendale Apartments, said he too called on Walcott but had not received any word.

"This is a fairly narrow road and sometimes people drive fast. When I drive out, I have to ease onto the road as the tree blocks your vision," he said.

Welch said the tree was leaning over more than when he first moved into the area 12 years ago.

"My fear is that it will either fall on a person or a vehicle and kill someone," he said.

At a Christ Church South branch meeting in March, Walcott asked constituents to realise he was not the minister responsible for public works and could only make suggestions to the relevant ministries.

Medford identified yet another problem with the aged tree – one of termites.

"At times, you can see them flying out of the tree and you get nests all over the place. I have to spray this house twice a year and on some evenings you have to turn off all the lights and leave them off for at least an hour. It's terrible," he said.

Officials from MPW, BL&P and the Town Planning Department told the DAILY NATION the procedure for cutting down mature trees first involved Town Planning granting permission to MPW. If there were live electric wires through the tree, BL&P must first trim the branches before MPW removed the tree.

Dr Arthur Marshall lives next to the tree but was not sure if it was indeed on his land, as his property was fenced off. He said if the tree was his responsibility, he would be willing to have it removed.