Indiscriminate chopping of trees by DBKL upsets residents

Left to rot: The stumps and chopped branches have been left along the side of Jalan Beringin in Bukit Damansara.

Source: http://thestar.com.my/metro/central/

By CHRISTINA LOW (Wednesday June 10, 2009)

IT seems that the green war to protect environment and nature is going to be a long, long protracted one, with no end in sight. This is what residents of Bukit Damansara in Kuala Lumpur found to their dismay, and the perpetrator is, horror of horrors, the local authority. While they are trying their utmost to save the trees in the neighbourhood, workers of the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) are going around chopping them down indiscriminately, with nary a care for anything. Left to rot: The stumps and chopped branches have been left along the side of Jalan Beringin in Bukit Damansara. “We are trying our best to save the trees and plant more trees and there the DBKL is cutting them down,” Bukit Damansara Residents Association deputy treasurer George Gill said. George said the DBKL had chopped down seven trees along Jalan Beringin since February, “The DBKL did not inform the residents association the purpose of chopping down the trees,” he said. He said when he called Segambut branch of the DBKL, he was told by an officer that the trees were sick and needed to be brought down. “The DBKL should at least try to trim and treat the trees first before chopping them,” resident Lily Cheong said. When StarMetro visited the site yesterday, remains of the trees that were chopped recently were seen on the sides of the road, waiting to be cleared. George said the residents wanted to know just how many more trees were said to be sickly and had to brought down.

Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng, who visited the area, said the matter was indeed a serious one. “Last year, residents in Segambut said they requested the DBKL to chop down old and oversized trees but their request was turned down by the DBKL which said they only trim trees but not chop them,” Lim said. “But in the Bukit Damansara case, no resident has requested for such work but it took place,” he said. Lim had earlier called the manager of the Segambut DBKL branch and was given the same answer, stating the trees were unwell. Lim said he would write to the DBKL soon to seek an explanation on the matter.