AT 6:09 on Thursday evening, a text message alerted Tracy Cumberbatch of what she believed was inevitable. A troublesome palm tree planted a few feet away from the home she shared with her mother, stepfather and children, had fallen on the roof of one side of the house. The tree cracked upon its fall, exposing a dried, rotten core.
Cumberbatch was at church with her mother, Beverley, at the time of the incident, and none of the other residents were at home.
While she was grateful there was no structural damage to the President Kennedy Drive, St Michael home, the mother of two knew the incident could have been avoided. Cumberbatch told the SATURDAY SUN she had been calling director of the Urban Development Commission, Derek Alleyne, as well as Member of Parliament for the area Michael Carrington for some time to remove the tree – but to no avail.
With proof in her hand, Cumberbatch asserted: “Since the fifth of last month, I went at Town and Country Planning and dem say dem was going to send people in 14 days. Nearly a month come and gone.
“When I came home from work [one day] my stepfather told me that a gentleman came to take pictures of the tree. I called Derek Alleyne and I told him about it . . . I tell him that [there are] roots popping out from the ground, and the tree leaning to the house. …”.
She added that it was clear the once stately tree should have been felled, and documented its deterioration with her phone’s camera. Members of the household said the tree’s condition had worsened from early last month.
“There was no damage on the inside of the house, and that is only because the tree is rotten on the inside. [I am glad] that the children were not outside playing, because if the children was at home, they would be here on the outside playing . . . God is good. But this ain’t the way that it should have happened. They should have come and cut it down when we asked and I went all out [to have this tree removed],”Cumberbatch said on Thursday.
Neighbourhood resident Beverley Callender also expressed fear about another palm tree that was close to her home and hoped she would not suffer the same fate. She recalled the tree-planting initiative was part of a beautification project when Branford Taitt was the parliamentary representative for St Michael West.
“There is one leaning towards my house now . . . You can see all the holes, and the termites does fly out. [Authorities at the UDC] promise to move them and dem ain’t move dem. Dem prefer that it fall down on somebody house,” she said.
Carrington visited residents yesterday morning.
In a telephone interview, he called the incident “unfortunate” and added: “I would admit our feet were too short on this matter. I have already spoken to the director of UDC who has assured that he will make arrangements for it to be removed.”
Costs associated with the clean-up would be underwritten by Government authorities, he said. Carrington noted the other trees were also damaged, and once the relevant authorities signed off, they would be felled “in the shortest possible time.”
