The second district occupies 39 kilometers of the 57-kilometer span of the highway from Dinalupihan to Mariveles town. Some 18 kilometers belong to the first engineering district.
Engineer Ulysses Llado said the trees will either be cut or earth-balled for transfer to planting sites in Orion, Bataan and other areas in the province.
“Sa kabuuan ng Roman Highway sa second district, mahigit apat na libo or to be exact, 4,325 trees ang puputulin o ililipat,” he said.
Of the number of trees to be affected, he said they could not still determine how many will be cut and how many to undergo earth-balling.
He said that they have applied with the provincial office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for the cutting in 2017 of 31 trees and 638 trees for 2018.
Annie Rizza Santoyo who prepared the inventory said DENR will decide on the trees to be earth-balled and cut.
“Ang mahalaga sa tingin ko, may ililipat at hindi masasayang ang mga puno,” Llado said.
Knowledgeable sources said trees of the narra, acacia and eucalyptus species to be affected were planted in the 1970s yet and have diameters ranging from 0.2 to more than 1.5 meters.
They said that trees that can only be transferred by earth-balling are those with diameter of not more than 0.60 meter.
Llado said they will begin the first stage of the widening of the four-lane highway into six lanes that spanning three kilometers between Balanga City and Pilar town with a budget of P200 million.
“Pangunahing problema sa widening project ay ang pagkuha ng cutting permit sa mga kahoy at mga structures na masasagasaan,” he said.
The district engineer said they needed funding of P1.1 billion to turn the four-lane highway into six lanes in the whole second district alone.
