Dr. Daniel Kingsford Adams, Director of the Department of Parks and Gardens, has advised Ghanaians to prune their trees in time to prevent accidents, particularly during the rainy season.
“We are in the rainy season and this time we’ve been told that it will come with a great storm.
If you have trees in your area, try and prune them.
I advise that you come to Parks and Gardens for us to do a professional pruning for you to save lives and property.”
Dr Adams gave the warning on Monday, following an accident on the Switch Back Road near Cantonments in Accra, in which a tree fell on a military officer’s car and a motorcycle rider during Monday morning’s heavy downpour.
The military officer escaped unharmed, but the motorcycle rider sustained leg injuries and was taken to the hospital.
The accident caused heavy vehicular traffic in the area.
Dr Adams indicated that the military officer’s car intended to negotiate a curve, but the motorbike rider behind him attempted to overtake.
During that moment, the tree fell on the officer’s vehicle and trapped the rider under it with his motorcycle.
Dr Adams said due to the severity of the motorcycle rider’s injury, the Department had to quickly cut the tree into smaller pieces to enable it to be lifted.
He praised his team, including members of the Ghana National Fire Service, the Ghana Army, and the Police, for working together to tackle the issue.
He advised homeowners and estate developers building along key city and town roadways to contact the Department for professional assistance when they wanted to build a fence wall or excavate a drainage system.
