Wednesday, December 15, 2010

In Bolehland, macam-macam idiot ada

There must be some hidden connections. First, raintrees are not indigenous species. Trek into any jungle in Malaysia, you do not see any raintree growing wild. Raintrees are imported species. And why do you think these creatures called spending-spree-politicians so happy to insure these trees when even the Temenggor Forest Reserves with huge trees that support the natural ecosystem of rare hornbills, wildlife and flora, of heritage values of million years old were not protected? Insure the raintrees? Idiotic thinking, maybe for the benefit of their cronies from the insurance company. And you as the rakyat will have to suffer the consequences of more tax hikes just to fulfill the need of idiotic politicians. If you value trees, then declare the Belum-Temengor enclaves as a permanent protected areas. Don't you think there are more "social values" in the Belum-Temengor Forest Complex? Only an idiot or a corrupt person would insured a few trees but chopped a whole jungle of heritage cum indigenous trees. In Bolehland, macam-macam idiot ada!

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December 14, 2010
Four raintrees valued RM1mil each to be insured by City Council
By SYLVIA LOOI
Star

IPOH: Four raintrees here will be insured by the City Council – a first in Malaysia – after they were found to be worth about RM1mil each.

Datuk Bandar Datuk Roshidi Hashim said the value of the trees was determined under the Thyre Tree Valuation, developed by Australian Peter Thyre in 1984.

The factors which determine the value of a tree are its quality, aesthetics and people’s view about it. Its “social value” is also taken into consideration. The trees must also be at least 50 years old and of a certain diameter.

The four raintrees to be insured are at least five-storeys high with a diameter of at least 20m.

“Three are located in D.R. Seenivasagam Park and the other at Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah (Tiger Lane),” Roshidi said yesterday.

The trees will be insured once they are gazetted next year.

After chairing the council’s full board meeting, Roshidi said the council had conducted a study on 300 trees along Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah, Jalan Datuk Onn Jaffar, D.R. Seenivasagam Park, Ipoh Garden and Jalan Panglima Bukit Gantang Wahab.

Roshidi said the purpose of insuring the trees was to prevent people indiscriminately cutting them.

“It is also to protect the council against public liability claims in case these trees fall on people,” he said.

Roshidi said the study also found over 30 trees to be dangerous and he had instructed them to be removed.

“But rest assured, new trees will be planted to replace those that were chopped down,” he added.


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December 14, 2010
Ipoh Mayor cannot see the wood for the trees
Mariam Mokhtar, Malaysia Chronicle

In a pioneering move in Malaysia, Ipoh’s Mayor, Roshidi Hashim announced that four raintrees in the city would be insured by the City Council because they were believed to be worth about RM1mil each. He hoped to gazette and insure 291 trees valued between RM5,000 and RM1.3 million.

“Three are located in D.R. Seenivasagam Park and the other at Tiger Lane (Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah),” said Roshidi.

Roshidi said the value of the trees was determined under the Thyre Tree Valuation, developed by an Australian, Peter Thyre in 1984.

Roshidi stated that the purpose of insuring the trees was to prevent people indiscriminately cutting them.

His remarks will invite ridicule.

The bitter experience of the Ipoh public is that the only people who indiscriminately cut the trees are those who have been sent by the Ipoh City Council to remove them. Trees are usually chopped down without warning.

“We hope to gazette the trees by next year and we will also propose for enactment legislation to be drafted to ensure strict action is taken against anyone who purposefully harms or destroys the trees,” said Roshidi.

“At the moment, those who vandalise trees or chop them down are punishable under Act 172 of the Tree Preservation Order. It is also to protect the council against public liability claims in case these trees fall on people,” he said.

Roshidi said the study also found over 30 trees to be dangerous and he had instructed them to be removed.

“But rest assured, new trees will be planted to replace those that were chopped down,” he added.

Ipohites have ‘lost’ hundreds of trees which once graced the city for decades. Again, Ipohites know only too well that these beautiful trees, mostly tropical flowering trees, are replaced with nondescript palms usually the ‘Royal Palm’.

When asked for an explanation, the usual Ipoh City Council responses following a tree’s removal, are a combination of the following – “don’t know”, “only following orders”, “the rotting tree is a danger to the public”, “palm trees like those in the Prophet’s holy-land are preferred”. It appears that in Ipoh, even trees can take on a political and religious dimension.

Tree removal is not an Ipoh phenomenon. ‘Tree attacks’ also happen in other cities. The premature removal of trees in Kuala Lumpur happened in the name of progress and development.

No one sought to keep them. And yet, Singapore, a concrete jungle, can keep its trees and is also known as ‘the garden of the east’ with several beautiful trees lining their boulevards.

The trees in Ipoh did not make way for development – they were removed because of ignorance, apathy and an unwillingness to nurture and maintain the trees.

No one in Ipoh City Council or their department of parks and town planning, were willing to adhere to a rigorous maintenance, pruning and horticultural regime. ‘No trees’ meant no additional work.

The shortsightedness of the Ipoh City-Council is that they fail to see that trees can provide employment as well as beautify the city.

The Singaporeans had the good sense to acknowledge the social, communal, environmental and economic benefits of trees. But those in Ipoh City Council were proud that they could protect the general public from falling branches and rotting trunks - only because the safe removal of the trees meant the trees could no longer ‘harm’ the public .

Recently, Putrajaya sent a delegation to Singapore on a two-day study trip so that the Singaporeans could teach us a thing or two on planting and maintaining trees. Most people view such government study tours with skepticism. These so called study trips are usually an excuse for a jolly.

Thankfully, the Ipoh city council has not suggested this wasteful study–tour extravaganza, yet. As it is, the money to pay for the insurance of these trees will be paid for by the taxpayer, when all it needs is common sense to protect them from ‘indiscriminate’ people.

For years, Ipohites have shown appreciation for their trees not just for its beauty and aesthetics, its historical significance but also because of its various functions and how it helped enhance communities. These trees were priceless to us.

It was the Ipoh city council which did not show the same appreciation. It would only show ‘false appreciation’ once the trees were valued at a certain price, like the four raintrees which are valued at over RM1 million each.

The daft and corrupted way our leaders think means that everything has to have a monetary tag before it is treasured.

There is one other tree that the Ipoh City Council and the Perak state government have overlooked. This tree is a tourist attraction and also a shrine. It is located close to the Perak State Assembly and is affectionately called ‘The Tree of Democracy’. Have the authorities placed a value on it?

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