Strong wind gusts on Sunday, January 27, uprooted 25 trees in Chisinau municipality. The city’s chief arborist, Eliferie Haruta, told a City Hall meeting on Monday that the downed trees had been already dealt with, except for one on Zelinski Str, which required special equipment intervention, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to Haruta, most of the cases involved aged trees, in particular poplars older than 60, whereas such species should be felled at the age of 40-45, before they become a hazard. The wind-downed trees damaged two cars and broke several windows at a tenement on Alba Iulia Street. Asked by the mayor who will answer for the damages, Haruta replied that car owners should insure their vehicles for such accidents, too. At the same time, the chief arborist said tree surgery and trimming must be performed more often and in time in Chisinau, complaining that the inadequate equipment and the insufficient funding for planting new trees are the main causes why the city tree surgeons fall behind their schedule. Currently, there are roughly 1,600 hazard trees in Chisinau, Haruta told Info-Prim Neo. A commission established by Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca in December 2007 is now working on a plan of measures to remove trees in failing health from sidewalks and school yards. So, in 2008, there will be removed 920 old trees, and the remaining 665, in 2009. In their place, city arborists will plant 717 trees of tall species this year, with 455 more to follow in 2009.