May 3, 2002

Dear Sir,

Herewith a copy of a letter to the Hon. Alex Scott, Minister of Works and Engineering which I have sent today.

Dear Mr. Scott.

I was shocked and very angry to see the devastation inflicted on my property on Harbour Road by the 'roadside cleaning' gang from your Department. The land is private waterfront opposite Cliff Lodge, 86 Harbour Road, Paget, PG 02.

There can be no excuse of either sight obstruction or impingement on the roadway. The vegetation is mostly palms which are growing nine to ten feet below the road and separated from it by a wall. The men have hacked off the tops and almost all the other leaves to a distance of eight to ten feet, leaving in some cases one wispy centre leaf and in others nothing. It is doubtful that any of them will recover. To add insult to injury, all the debris has been dropped on the ground with apparently no attempt to remove it.

In addition to the ugly mess, it is very sad that this vegetation was sheltering one of the last areas of Longtail nesting sites in Hamilton Harbour. There is, as you know, a great deal of traffic on Harbour Road and the palms were an important buffer for the birds.

It is inexcusable that your men are not supervised by someone who has some conception of sensitive, or even just plain sensible pruning. In short I am furious.

Yours in disgust.

ELFRIDA L. CHAPPELL

Paget