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Citing fallen tree tragedy, MP urges MBPJ to appoint arborist

Vent: I'm very pleased that Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung has called for the appointment of a certified arborist to inspect old or high-risk trees.

The problem is rooted in the corrupt subcontracting process of past and present governments where clueless subcontractors (leave alone arborists!) engaged mere workers (not even gardeners!) to plant trees.

They did it without any knowledge of their suitability or sustainability in a climate like ours that is prone to thunderstorms and gully erosion.

So, this is corruption coming home to roost after decades of hastily and poorly planted trees and shrubs.

It's disgraceful that paved walkways are broken by roots of mature trees and trees are frequently uprooted in the rain.

Saplings of what will grow into tall or massive trees are planted into shallow beds which will see the roots run above it in time, posing a hazard to pedestrians, especially the elderly.

Has anyone noticed the arboreal mess on most of our roundabouts and spaces within road dividers? So, it's good to know that we are talking about arborists.

By the way, did you ever see these arboreal disasters in the Garden City of Singapore? No!

Because they have “educated” staff who not only choose the most suitable trees and shrubs for particular locations but also the right people to plant and nurture them.

Perhaps the disaster of fallen trees in Kuala Lumpur is a wake-up call for arborists to attend to our trees and rectify the damage to decades of corrupt practice carried out under the pretext of beautifying Kuala Lumpur and other cities.

World Citizen: An arborist (short for arboriculturist or tree surgeon) is somebody who knows about the cultivation and management of trees and plants.

All these local councils should already have staff with such knowledge, as most councils are full of trees and plants.

No need to spend additional taxpayers' money to engage outside companies to do this job as that will involve cronies and padded charges to fill the pockets with so many.

Yes, Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) should undertake this job quickly as our streets are lined with many old trees.

Lee should spearhead this because the staff at MBPJ are only good at collecting dues and fines from Petaling Jaya residents.

Fair Comments: It is regrettable that Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) only took "proactive" measures after a tragedy.

Forty years ago, I asked a Hong Kong student why he was studying forestry at an American university when there was no real forest in Hong Kong.

He told me that he was amongst several students on scholarships awarded by the Hong Kong government.

Their role was mainly to take care of the many public parks and also to ensure that pre-emptive measures were taken to prevent trees from falling and injuring people.

I hope the recent incident will jolt all local authorities into action to seriously prevent more similar tragedies from recurring. It is better late than never.

BluePanther4725: The concept of routine preventive maintenance is alien to our city councils. They will only react when a problem happens.

Our city councils collect a substantial amount of taxes from the residents every year but provide very little service for us in return.

Rubbish by the side of the road is not collected regularly. Roads and drains are in bad condition. Trees are not trimmed properly.

The trees that are on the side of the road play a very important role in preserving our environment and reducing the effects of global warming.

However, the council workers just take the lazy and easy way of chopping off these trees instead of maintaining them well.

We urgently need better and more responsible city council workers and the best way is to hold local city council elections for the residents, but our government is not considering it or initiating any reforms on this matter.

Perhaps, they are reluctant to rock the boat and remove the cronyism and corruption.

Newday: Getting an arborist appointed won’t prevent falling tree incidents entirely. They can only do risk assessments based on what they see.

It is up to the local councils to act upon their advice. It is a seriously expensive exercise in assessing root systems, especially in urban areas with the pavement covering right up to the tree truck in many cases.

Ground penetrating methods for root assessment are only used in exceptional circumstances.

VS: We never had this problem. Today, we have to get specialists, paying them tonnes of money for their recommendation to trim the trees.

This was always done efficiently for years by the competent staff from the local council. They just used common sense to do the job, like how they cleared clogged drains.

Lee may even recommend an allocation from the government, and a full committee, to spend this money on his tree-checking agenda.

People assigned to do the jobs previously are just spending more time in coffee shops because of poor supervision and subcontract work.

Plebeian: This is long overdue. Every city council should appoint an arborist to assess trees in their district.

This was an unfortunate incident, but conversely, another major concern is councils being too gung-ho about cutting down trees.

You see it everywhere. Every effort should be made to keep the trees alive and in good health, especially given the role they play in reducing humidity.

Saitama: That is why Malaysia will never be an advanced country in the eyes of the people.

Singapore has already hired arborists for many years to inspect the trees very often, and you won't hear this kind of incident there - shame on the city councils.

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