The ongoing discussion about the Sandema mahogany trees and the road is a wake-up call to realities we, Bulsa, have always preferred to ignore because we think taking time off to think and reflect on serious issues is inconveniencing. So, we often choose to shut off rather than face the inconvenient truth: thinking, reflecting, analyzing, planning, and implementing proper actions.
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| The historic and iconic Sandema canopy trees |
We have neglected our mahogany trees for far too long, and the sooner we started taking care of them, trimming broken branches for example, the better. Mahogany trees can live up to 350 years, so the Sandema trees cannot be said to be very old at only 100 years! All they need is good care.
Shamefully, we have not added new trees to their number in all these years! If we were a serious and environmentally-friendly people, we would have had more mahogany trees along the short stretch of road between Sandem-Suwarinsa and Wiak-Gonsa today. Wouldn’t that be beautiful?
So, instead of cutting the existing trees, we should first give proof of a serious commitment to tree-planting in our communities and public places. It takes a mahogany tree twenty-five years to grow to maturity ("adulthood"). After that, it has three and a quarter centuries to live if given proper attention and care.
It is never too late for us to cultivate and make the culture of tree-planting/growing part of our life. With a desert almost at our gates and climate change threatening our very livelihood (farming), it would be prudent to start giving environmental protection the needed focus and attention by raising awareness in our communities and schools. What is really so difficult in tree-planting/growing that it has kept us away from greening our communities? Come to think of the scorching sun and terrible heat we experience in some of the dry season months (January to April), one would assume we need no schooling on the importance of trees but would willingly mobilize and plant thousands of them. No, we cut them, and burn the vegetation in addition! What's more suicidal than that?
And, talking about the road. Yes, we have waited for far too long to have it upgraded. The current plan to work on it is very welcome, and we only hope it is not yet another sugar-coated election year deceptive plan and action on the part of the politicians to get our votes. One thing I am certain about, and which should not even be a topic for debate, is that we MUST KEEP our mahogany trees. Period!
A broader road on the approximately five-kilometer stretch of road where these trees stand is not worth their value and the overall benefits we get from them. Now that we are desperate for the road, we make promises of planting more trees in their place when they are cleared. A bird in hand is worth two in the bush, it is said. I can bet my last penny that when these trees are cut, they will not be replaced. At best there would be some initial action, i.e. trees would be planted, but after one or two dry seasons, they would have died from lack of care and that would be the end of the story.
Another problem is also linked to broadening the road. We have neglected proper town-planning so much that many houses have been built very close to the road, just behind the trees. If the trees have to be cleared, all these houses will also have to be demolished! And I can hear the lamentations and cursing and cries of resistance already. It has taken many of these house-owners years of sweat and life-savings to provide a roof for themselves and their families. And let no one fool them that they will be compensated! Just forget it!
In the light of the above, a more satisfactory solution for all stakeholders is to keep the trees, maintain the width of the road on that stretch (from Sandem-Bilinsa to Sandem-Suwarinsa), and by relation let people also keep their homes behind the trees.
To prevent reckless driving and motorbiking on a newly-tarred road, speed ramps should be built on it at a distance of every hundred meters. Speed-limits are essential in residential areas. The rest of the road, from Chuchuliga to Sandem-Bilinsa and from Suwarinsa to Wiak-Farinsa can be broadened. If the Bulsa North District Assembly and the contractor insist that the trees must go, the houses close to the road too must go, and many homes will be demolished, not only in Sandema but in Wiaga, Gbedema, Fumbisi, and Wiesi as well, where houses have been built close to the road.
Also Read: The Canopy, The Road and The Big Debate
No, keep the homes and leave the road as it is in residential parts in all these towns. But, in upgrading these parts, speed ramps are a MUST! And to make the road available to only vehicles, pedestrian pavements can be constructed in the spaces between the trees and the houses.
I am not a civil engineer but I am sure it is not impossible to implement the suggestions made here. A good civil engineer will go to the drawing board, use the internet, search and research, consult with other experts, and come up with suitable alternatives. Modern technology has answers to many of today’s problems. Let us not always go for the solutions that we already know. They can be expensive and could turn out to be problems in themselves. In short, keep our trees and, by extension, our homes. Upgrade the road without casualties!
Author: Ghanatta Ayaric
Email: ghanattaa@gmail.com
The author of this article is a concerned Senior Buluk Citizen and an environmentalist at heart.
He works at the German School in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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