Jacaranda trees being removed in Pretoria

Some of the oldest Jacaranda trees in Pretoria are reportedly in the process of being removed

 

 

Concerned residents are up in arms, following the discovery that some of the Jacaranda city's oldest Jacaranda trees are being cut down along Jorrisen, Kotze and Lynnwood streets near Loftus Versfeld. 

 

 

This has apparently been approved to make way for the new Tshwane Metro Bus Rapid Transit route - with construction now in full swing. Construction is expected to be completed by 2017. The BRT system was temporarily shelved in 2010, when the Transport Department raised concerns that the design and proposals were flawed. A total of 51 stations are being planned over a stretch of 81 kilometres.

 

 

By early Friday morning, some trees have been cut down at an alarming rate of two every half hour. Some of the trees as are as old as 80 years. 

 

 

Tshwane Metro has yet to confirm the reports.