GEORGE TOWN, May 11 — A DAP assemblyman has urged the city council to implement a master plan on the care of ancient trees to prevent any untoward incidents.
Pulau Tikus assemblyman Joshua Woo Sze Zeng said there is a need for a more aggressive plan by the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) to maintain these trees through scheduled pruning and maintenance.
“If there is a need to clear some of these dangerous trees, then the MBPP should not hesitate to do so to ensure that these public areas and roads are safe for users,” he said in a statement.
He was responding to an incident this morning when a large tree uprooted and fell over along Macalister Road, damaging vehicles and the concrete fence of a building.
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“In fact, on April 26, a tree fell and damaged four cars at Lebuh Raya Scott in Pulau Tikus,” he said.
He said no one was hurt in both incidents but something must be done to prevent this from happening.
“My service centre team has been working closely with MBPP to monitor and prune trees, especially those large ones along the four ‘green corridors’ in Pulau Tikus, Jalan Kelawai, Jalan Burma, Jalan Macalister, and Jalan Utama,” he said.
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He said there are hundreds of very old and large trees in these areas compared to other places.
He said the trees are important to a city’s landscape and act as “green lung” in urban setting but if MBPP needs to clear some of these “dangerous trees”, it should do so.
“Our priority is the lives of Penangites,” he said.
