People stealing plants are beginning to impact on the operations of the National Conservation Commission (NCC).
NCC chairman Tyrone Lowe, speaking Sunday at the official opening of the Checker Hall Recreational Park in St Lucy, said the practice only frustrated their beautification efforts as well as the efforts of artisans.
“We are finding it more difficult to protect our plants and flowers from ‘extreme horticulturalists’ who are constantly removing plants without permission or conscience,” he said.
Lowe said in the past few months they had recorded missing flora from areas such as the Errol Barrow Park, Hastings Rock, the Ministry of Finance, Bay Street, and the entrance to NCC headquarters at Codrington.
“This is part of the reason why we are so afraid to enhance places like Folkestone and even to attempt to decorate the outer wall of the Governor General’s residence,” he added.
Lowe said it was up to the people in St Lucy to set an example since stealing flora was not the answer.
