RADHICA DE SILVA
Senior Multimedia Reporter
Palmiste Park volunteers are calling for security cameras and warning signs to be installed after several plants, including a rare papyrus plant once used by the ancient Egyptians to make paper, were stolen from the park’s recently restored pond area.
The thefts have frustrated residents and volunteers who have spent the last two years raising funds, soliciting donations and carrying out beautification work around the park’s heart-shaped pond.
Volunteer and environmental coordinator Zenobia Mohammed said several established plants have disappeared, including papyrus plants and MacArthur palms that had been growing for about two years.
“We had the papyrus and so forth, and then somebody came and started stealing our plants,” Mohammed said. “The papyrus is gone, our MacArthur palms are gone. Those were two years old.”
Mohammed explained that the papyrus was particularly significant because of its historical connection to ancient Egypt, where the plant was used in the production of paper.
“That one in particular was given by someone who had propagated it, and to know it was a huge, established, special plant, and it’s now gone,” she said.
The beautification project has attracted support from schools, community groups and volunteers from across south Trinidad. Recently, about 50 students from Barrackpore ASJA Secondary School participated in a clean-up and replanting exercise around the pond.
Despite those efforts, Mohammed said the continued theft of plants is discouraging.
“It is very frustrating to have people coming into our park and stealing our plants,” she said.
Appealing directly to the public, she urged citizens to take pride in preserving public spaces.
“Please don’t come here and steal. This is our country. Let’s have some national pride. Let’s have a green space for us to come and enjoy, picnic, breathe some fresh air and learn about what trees do,” Mohammed said.
President of the Palmiste Historical Society and Palmiste Residents Association, Terrence Honoré, said volunteers have already begun installing signs as a deterrent and are now hoping to introduce surveillance cameras powered by solar energy.
“Signage, for one, in the first instance,” Honoré said. “But the camera, yes, we need those with solar panels so that we could at least monitor.”
Honoré revealed that volunteers recently received video footage allegedly showing a man and woman removing plants from the park.
“It is heartbreaking to press forward in seeking to create an international-standard park and watch people violate our efforts by stealing and removing plants,” he added.
Beyond the thefts, Honoré said the park remains in need of significant infrastructure upgrades, including repairs to the walking track and the removal of hazardous tree branches.
He said the Palmiste Historical Society and Residents Association will continue advocating for improvements while working to protect the park’s growing collection of plants and green spaces.
