DBKL has chopped down 173 trees classified as high risk from 2019 till today. According to Federal Territories minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa, that’s out of 1,488 old trees in the city that were inspected.

The Sekijang MP said that the decision was made by DBKL, and the city council will continue to monitor old trees. “To reflect the commitment of DBKL, 21 contractors have been appointed since June 15, 2024 for the periodic maintenance of shady trees, and every contractor needs to have an arborist, who is an expert in analysing trees, to judge the health of the trees and mitigation actions,” she told parliament today.

According to DBKL records, maintenance work have been performed on 22,283 trees from January till now. As for trees on private land, Dr Zaliha said DBKL has issued 65 notices regarding high risk trees following complaints by the public since 2021.

Answering a question by Wangsa Maju MP Zahir Hassan, she said that there have been 14 cases of accidents due to falling trees, with nine injuries and five fatalities from 2017 to 2024.

One of those deaths happened in May, when a large tree came crashing down on 17 vehicles, while also damaging a bus stop and the KL Monorail track. In that incident, a 47-year-old man died while a 26-year-old man suffered serious injuries. Many cars were damaged too, so it’s wise to have the Special Perils add-on for your motor insurance policy. Otherwise, you’re on your own should an Act of God happen.

Anyway, how’s the landscape in your area or taman of late? We know the dangers of falling trees, but I can’t help but feel sad to see so many trees chopped down in my neighbourhood. It was shady, and it was pretty.

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