As part of the celebration of Tree Daya group of citizens and volunteers from community and civic organizations came together on Sunday for the massive planting of 600 fruit trees in the Linear Walk Bayamon for the subsequent enjoyment and food of people who visit the park.
“They were all trees that offer fruit, for example, rose apple, corduroy, avocado, citrus, anything that produces something that can feed humans. We already had, that we had planted, mango trees, almond trees and now the people, when they go for a walk, pick from the mango trees, when the harvest season comes,” indicated the Bayamón mayor, Ramon Luis Rivera Cruz.
The activity was joined by groups of walkers who frequent the linear walk, as well as community organizations, several troops from the Children Listen, and private citizens from different parts of Bayamón. The mayor highlighted the participation of multiple families and shared that one of them was people who had recently moved back to Puerto Rico.
“It is part of our Municipal Environmental Plan, where we annually plant an average of 4,500 trees throughout the city, in different places”Rivera Cruz highlighted in an interview with The new day.
These projects are part of the Ornament Division, from which the vegetative recycling programs, tree and plant nurseries are managed. Furthermore, the mayor explained that “they are gridding the city, and where we need trees, we plant trees.”
“In fact, we receive many of the mitigations from private construction companies. When they have to do a project, they look for a place where they have the obligation to plant trees. We receive them and we choose different places and plant them,” said the New Progressive Party (NPP) politician.
Regarding the recycling of vegetables, he stated that 100% of the material collected in Bayamón goes to a collection center in the municipality and is converted into compost.
As part of the project, they have also acquired several properties “to leave them protected for life.” At the moment, Rivera Cruz reported, they have accumulated 100 acres of land, which is added to another 90 acres in the mogote areas that go from Julio Monagas Park to Fort Buchannan, which have been protected since 2000.
“In the next four years, if everything goes well, we should be acquiring at least 90 additional acres of land, to leave them protected,” he said.
Apart from the Environmental Plan, the mayor maintained that the Municipality has other projects that promote the conservation of the planet. “All this is based on a public policy that economic development and the environment can go hand in hand. One does not have to cancel the other. The two complement each other,” he said.
In fact, one of the projects they have for these purposes is to change all the lighting in the Municipality's recreational spaces, so that they use less electrical energy and generate less heat.
