BY ALEX DADAMU
FOR Half an hour, the roar of the chainsaw entertain the neighbourhood and now, it went silent in the quiet Mbua Valley neighbourhood – to be replaced with the loud thud of a tree safely hitting the ground.
It was another successful removal of a potentially hazardous Mango tree, which poses a big risk to the neighbourhood during the current tropical cyclone season.
Davadau Tree Fellers was a local private Company offering a service of tree trimming, felling and removal, and they are responsible for the successful take down of the worrisome tree.
Pedro, the owner and founder of Davadau Tree Fellers and his crew, is in Honiara clearing trees which could be in striking distance of cars and homes.
After providing their much needed services in Malaita province, Pedro and the crew are now in the city, working through the list of customers and trying to prioritize trees that had a higher chance of falling in the event of high winds.
Pedro, who hails from Ngalivesi village located in the Northern Region of Malaita Province, started learning the art of tree-climbing back in the early 70’s at the village.
He recalled at the tender age of 11 or 12, he started following his father to climb Ngali nut trees during harvesting seasons.
“My father is a very skillful tree climber. He used to climb those ngali nut tree and gather the nuts for us to sell for money – to help sustain the family.
“There are Many Ngali Nut trees and he would swung from one tree to another through very small branches,” the soft spoken and meek Pedro told Tourism Media Solomon Islands.
By the time he was a teenager, Pedro has already mastered the art of his late father however, during those years in the late 70’s and early 80’s, it never cross his mind to really consider taking the art of tree climbing and felling – to work for people and seriously earn an income for himself.
It was in early 2005 that Pedro registered ‘Davadau Tree Fellers’ company and started providing that much needed service in and around Honiara City.
Now at 60, Pedro is still showing no signs of quitting, revealing to Tourism Media that there is still many work to be done and despite some circumstances, “work must go on,” he said with a bright smile.
Many customers of Davadau Tree Fellers have expressed satisfaction of the work done by the group stating it was neat, safe, and was done in an orderly fashion.
“If someone wants a tree removed, our typical work would be – we started off by trimming all small branches with leaves, then we started trimming off small branches – then we easily chop each branch pieces by pieces until we reach the bottom of the tree,” Pedro explained.
“People should get their trees looked at by professionals every couple of years to make sure they are not hazardous or rotten,” Pedro insisted.
