About 23 trees from the center island of S. Osmeña road in Cebu City were relocated to Plaza Independencia and Block 27 of the North Reclamation Area (NRA), the Cebu City Parks and Playgrounds Commission said yesterday.
Parks administrator Arlie Gesta said the commission and contractor WT Construction Inc. will continue to earth-ball the 15 remaining trees from pier 3 to pier 6.
The earth-balling of trees along the S. Osmeña Road which is undergoing improvements started last week after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) lifted the Cease-and-Desist Order (CDO) on the project.
DENR-7 spokesman Eddie Llamedo said their office in Cebu City is overseeing the undertaking to ensure that the trees are intact once they are moved to Plaza Independencia and other venues agreed upon with the city government.
He said the earth-balling and transfer of the trees should be done either early in the morning or not later than 7 a.m. or after 5 p.m.
“After it is uprooted, it should be transferred immediately without delay to avoid dehydration of the tree’s roots,” he said.
Llamedo also called on the Cebu City government, and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH-7) through its contractor to water the replanted trees twice a day and fortify it with fertilizer.
“Proper care and maintenance should be done to keep the trees surviving especially now that we are experiencing a mild El Niño. We hope that the fate of those trees will not be the same as the 79 missing trees,” Llamedo said.
The DENR-7 lifted the cease-and-desist order on the earth-balling activity last year after 79 trees along the center island went missing.
As part of the requirements for lifting of the order, the DENR asked DPWH to replace each of the missing trees with 1,000 seedlings.
The seedlings were turned over by the DPWH to City Environment and Natural Resources Officer Raul Pasoc last April 20.