PWD, City Hall monitoring Kota Belud and Telipok greeneries
Published on: Tuesday, September 10, 2024
By: Sidney Skinner
The branches of this rainforest tree in Kota Belud had encroached into the path of the electricity cables nearby.
THE Public Works Department (PWD) plans to trim the canopy of the rainforest trees along several roads in Kota Belud.
City Hall, meanwhile, has called on rate-payers in one part of Telipok to regularly attend to any trees and herbs they have planted on the common land near their properties, so that their greenery does not become a nuisance to or inconvenience others in the area.
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This action was prompted by feedback from a motorist living in Kg Bahru, at the former town, and a Taman Putera Perdana shop-owner, at the latter, about the lack of maintenance carried out on the trees along the access roads to their premises.
The driver said the trees on some road shoulders around Kota Belud had not been dealt with in years. Consequently, he said, this greenery had become so tall, with the canopies extending out for meters in all directions.
This road reserve in Telipok had been transformed into a private garden but the gardener had allowed his plants to become an eyesore
He feared that the trees could topple during a downpour, causing harm to motorists and pedestrians who might be passing by underneath.
Alternatively, any branches which snapped off might damage the electricity and telephone lines in the vicinity, leaving those living in the area without these services, according to him.
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The Telipok proprietor, on the other hand, said certain quarters had transformed the road reserve, on one side of his shop, into their own private garden.
However, much to his chagrin, they were failing to look after their plants, including some banana trees. Because of this, the verge looked unsightly, according to him.
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These individuals provided Hotline with the location of the affected greenery, which was forwarded to both agencies.
A PWD spokesman said its staff inspected the stretches highlighted by the road-user, shortly after becoming aware of his concerns.
“They confirmed the presence of the overgrown rainforest trees on verges, off Jalan Kg Bahru, Jalan Padang and some sections of Jalan Kota Belud-Ranau,” she said.
A check of the Department’s records revealed that these stretches were listed in its road-register, according to her.
“The roads, including the reserve land on either side, are maintained by our concessionaires.
“The respective firms have been asked to accord priority to pruning those trees which are below 4.5 metres in height from the surface of the road to ensure that the branches do not break off and endanger the public.”
City Hall staff confirmed that the banana trees had been removed from the verge earlier this month.
She said further inspections needed to be made of the taller trees.
“We will have to strategise how best to deal with this greenery. Given our budgetary constraints this year, it might be more feasible to have these trees included in our maintenance programme for 2025.
“Nevertheless, our staff will continue to keep an eye on the road-shoulders where this greenery is growing.”
Meanwhile, City Hall personnel are mounting a similar surveillance in Lorong Putera Perdana 1C in Telipok to ensure that the road-shoulders are kept in good order.
A spokeswoman for the agency’s Landscaping Department said the parties who planted the banana trees had them chopped down earlier this month.
“The owners were formally instructed remove their property and to stop using the common land here to cultivate any more greenery on the common land beside the parking lots for the shops here,” she said.
A notice to this affect was stuck to one of the trees towards the end of August, according to her.
“Our personnel returned less than two weeks later to find that the banana trees were gone.”
The spokeswoman said rate-payers, who treated the drain and road reserves as their private gardens, were obliged to maintain their greenery.
“They should look after their plants and trees. This means pruning them and making sure that they do not become diseased or unsightly. In this way, their greenery will not become a public nuisance or danger.”
PWD staff check on the condition of another overgrown tree along Jalan Padang.
She said this advice also applied to flower-pots placed in the common areas around residential and commercial properties.
“When it comes to road-shoulders and five-foot ways, rate-payers should use suitable potted plants. By ‘suitable,’ we mean greenery that does not have thorns and does not obstruct the view of drivers, or get in the way of pedestrians, when they are fully grown.”
The spokeswoman said trees, which belonged to City Hall, were pruned when it warranted doing so, while the grass on road-shoulders, under its maintenance, was trimmed once a month.
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