Old Tree Care In Dense Cities Crucial To Mitigate Risk

The Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has been directed to take quick action by cutting down high-risk trees throughout the city following another tree-fall event yesterday, just a week after the fatal incident on Jalan Sultan Ismail.

According to Bernama, Dr. Zaliha Mustafa, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Federal Territories), stated that DBKL must improve its “Shade Tree Management Plan” and adopt new standards to maintain aged or high-risk trees in order to avoid similar accidents in the future.

This follows two recent incidents in the KL City Centre, where a man died and another was seriously injured last Tuesday after a large tree fell on 17 vehicles on Jalan Sultan Ismail. After which, the most recent incident occurred yesterday along Jalan Pinang near the Marc Residence KLCC Suites, where several parked vehicles were damaged as a tree fell due to heavy rain.

The MalayMail further noted that Pulau Tikus assemblyman Joshua Woo Sze Zeng emphasised the necessity for the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) to take a more active approach to tree maintenance through scheduled pruning and maintenance.

His words came in response to an event last Saturday in which a huge tree uprooted and fell along Macalister Road in Penang, causing damage to vehicles and a building's concrete fence.

He also stated that on April 26, a tree collapsed and damaged four cars on Lebuh Raya Scott in Pulau Tikus. Since then, his service centre team has worked closely with MBPP to monitor and prune trees, particularly those in Pulau Tikus' four 'green corridors' - Jalan Kelawai, Jalan Burma, Jalan Macalister, and Jalan Utama.

So readers, what are your thoughts on the recent cases of old trees uprooting and falling due to heavy storms? Is it simply a lack of tree maintenance, or is it more about overdevelopment, with roads and buildings compromising the roots? Share your take in the comments below…