PRIME Minister Anwar Ibrahim has instructed Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to replant 100 news trees for every tree being chopped down.

“I have given instructions to Datuk Bandar (mayor) that for every tree that has to be cut, 100 new trees must be replanted,” he said in a post in X today.

DBKL had been given orders to take immediate action by cutting down high-risk trees around the city following another tree-falling incident on Monday.

The city hall had said that it has identified 28 “high risk” trees to be cut down.

This means, with the prime minister’s instructions, DBKL will have to replant about 2,800 new trees in the capital city.

In the Monday incident, several vehicles were damaged but narrowly missed a car carrying Melaka Chief Minister Ab Rauf Yusoh.

This incident occurred just a week after the fatal incident on Jalan Sultan Ismail.

In the first incident, a man was killed, while another suffered serious injuries when a huge tree fell on 17 vehicles along Jalan Sultan Ismail, just outside the Concorde Hotel, during a thunderstorm and heavy rain.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Dr Zaliha Mustafa had said that DBKL has also been directed to improve its Shade Tree Management Plan and to develop new guidelines related to aged or high-risk trees, to prevent similar incidents from recurring.

DBKL meanwhile said its certified arborists had been inspecting trees over 30 years old or with a circumference exceeding 1.5m within the capital city centre since 2019.

“So far, 175 trees have been identified as high-risk, with most being over 50 years old. From this number, 147 trees have been axed.

“Frequent inspections, including the latest last February, have identified 28 trees to be axed soon,” the city hall said in a statement.

Additionally DBKL also stated that it complied with its tree management plan issued in January 2019, which follows a three-tiered risk assessment approach based on on-site tree conditions.

It said it was enhancing the plan, preparing new guidelines on high-risk and aged trees, slated for completion by July. – May 15, 2024.