CAP: Don’t axe the trees
THE Consumers' Association of Penang (CAP) has voiced its disappointment over the plan by Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) to cut and transplant trees in Jalan Masjid Negeri.
Its president S.M. Mohamed Idris said the proposed cutting down of the trees to make way for a road widening project was akin to a massacre.
"We object to the massacre of the trees as they help improve the air quality besides providing shade.
"The state will lose its assets if MPPP continues with the project. Therefore, the council should consider other alternatives to save the trees from being axed," he said.
"Trees that are identified as public hazard should not be killed but be cured instead," he told a press conference in Jalan Masjid Negeri yesterday.
On Saturday, the MPPP public relations office issued a statement that the council would be cutting 44 trees and transplanting 20 trees along the 700m stretch of the road from the Jalan Udini roundabout to the Shell petrol station in Jalan Masjid Negeri to make way for a road widening and drainage system upgrading project which is scheduled for completion in 2014.
Mohamed Idris said the association wanted an assurance from the state government and MPPP that the trees along the stretch would be spared.
Long-time residents Dr Pava-bakarah, 60, and George Cheah, 62, also expressed their sadness over the council's decision to cut down the trees in their neighbourhood.
Dr Pavabakarah said they were not informed beforehand of the project and there was no dialogue between MPPP and residents in the Bukit Gelugor area.
"The trees have been here for some 40 years. Is it necessary to cut them down for the sake of development?" he asked.
Cheah, a retiree, also called on MPPP to stop the project imme- diately.
In a statement, the council said an arborist appointed by the project consultant had identified that out of the 80 trees in the area, only 16 should remain with 44 to be chopped and 20 be trans-planted.
Among the trees deemed to be problematic and will be cut are the semarak api (Delonix regia), wee-ping fig (Ficus benjamina), angsana, Chinese Banyan (Ficus microcarpa) and yellow flame (Peltophorum pterocarpum).
The trees that will be transplanted are the angsana, yellow flame, weeping fig, big leaf mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) and betel nut (Areca catechu).
-The STAR-
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