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Plant trees in the right spots, Sibu residents told

Posted on 04 May 2022
Source of News: The Star (Andy Chua)

Ting and others promoting tree planting at the event.Ting and others promoting tree planting at the event.

Tree planting is to be encouraged as it helps in greening the environment, but it should not be done at places where the trees can pose a danger to road users, a municipal head advises.

Sibu Municipal Council (MPS) chairman Clarence Ting wants houseowners to do away with the practice of planting trees next to their fences.

Speaking at a tree-planting campaign in conjunction with Love Earth Day 2022 in the Sarawak town, he said that although tree planting helped to conserve the environment, the council did not want the people to plant trees in their residential areas without proper planning.

“Trees planted in residential areas, especially at the road shoulder, can cause danger to vehicles.

“In addition, a tree without good maintenance will be at risk of its branches breaking off and hitting passing vehicles,” he said.

“It is for these reasons that the council has prohibited the people from planting trees beyond their compounds.

“We want to protect everyone, so we don’t want these mishaps to happen,” he stressed.

Ting said the council was intensifying its efforts to plant trees in open areas to promote greenery and further cultivate public awareness about planting trees in the right place.

He said every tree in the Sibu municipality would always be pruned and maintained at all times to avoid posing any danger to the public.

“Through non-governmental organisations (NGOs), associations and clubs, we encourage more tree planting in open areas in housing or in public parks to raise public awareness,” he said.

“This will enable us to take care of the trees by doing regular maintenance work, compared to individually planted trees that are outside the house fence (which won’t be maintained) because they are planted without the council’s knowledge,” he added.

The campaign chairman, councillor Ling Hua Wee said MPS aimed to plant 100 trees around the town in the coming months.

He said it was the council’s effort to make the globally celebrated Love Earth Day event a success.

“We are targeting 100 trees to be planted in every public park under the jurisdiction of MPS, including its open spaces.

“Besides that, we want to educate the people on planting trees in the right and safe places,” said Ling.