Dozens of large trees, which were around 50 years old, on Hoang Van Thu Street in Pleiku City, Gia Lai Province, located in Vietnam’s Central Highlands, were cut down to make room for a street section expansion.

The trees were chopped down, leaving stumps.

Local residents have voiced their sorrow over the loss of the trees, which had offered shade, enhanced the street's esthetics, and become familiar to them.

Tran Thi Hien, an electric appliance trader on Hoang Van Thu Street, said the trees offered shade all day, facilitating the operation of sidewalk stalls. 

At present, vendors have to use umbrellas.

Initially, the administration in Pleiku City intended to trim only the branches of the trees, preserving their trunks, each measuring three to four meters high, and relocate them to different areas.

However, several days later, the trunks were unexpectedly chopped down.

Hoang Minh Nghia, director of the Pleiku construction investment project management board overseeing the street section expansion project, stated that the trees in question were yellow flamboyant trees planted prior to 1975.

Due to their age and size, replanting them elsewhere would have required approximately three years.

Following the completion of the street expansion, the board plans to plant new large trees along the street.

The 500-meter expansion project for Hoang Van Thu Street comes with a budget of over VND19 billion (US$768,355) and is scheduled to be carried out this year.

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