Cleaver Woods Park spared

THE EDITOR: NIPDEC would like to take the opportunity to respond to the letter from Ms Shinelle Ambris titled “Spare wonderful Cleaver Woods,” published recently in your newspaper. The National Insurance Property Development Company Limited (NIPDEC), in partnership with the National Insurance Board (NIB), is constructing a gated, multi-family community of 287 units on a 50-acre site adjacent to Cleaver Woods, D’Abadie.

This project, which is a private development with Town and Country Planning approval, is south of the Cleaver Woods National Park. The park falls under the responsibility of the National Parks section of the Forestry Division. The boundary of the park is clearly demarcated since it is fenced. NIPDEC’s development does not involve the felling of trees in the Cleaver Woods National Park. Consequently we are not interfering with the water table.

The existing stream will be incorporated into our development. The land being developed is downstream and no pollution of the existing watercourse will occur. The Cleaver Woods Park is a national park and is the last portion of forested area within the Borough of Arima. It comprises an exotic species of conifer, pinus caribe, known locally as Caribbean Pine. These trees were planted as a research project by the Forestry Division and currently this area is part of the Cleaver Woods Recreation Park reforestation project also under the auspices of the Forestry Division.

MARGARET  MC 
DOWALL-THOMPSON
General Manager
NIPDEC