Locals reflect on removal of Jalan Tun Razak trees for ART project

KUCHING (Oct 2): Local residents have been reflecting on the removal of trees along Jalan Tun Razak here for the Autonomous Rapid Transit’s (ART) dedicated lanes.

Among them was Kho Teck Wan, a political secretary to the Premier of Sarawak.

“These trees are here along Jalan Tun Razak, Kuching for as long as I can remember. They are in the process of being removed to give way to the hydrogen Autonomous Rapid Transit.

“Hate to see them go, but as the city develops and progresses, something’s got to give. It is inevitable,” she wrote on Facebook.

She also expressed optimism that the ART system, which will use zero emission hydrogen vehicles, will bring about positive environmental changes.

“I have high hopes that we will be able to compensate the loss of greenery with cleaner air and smoother traffic. I for one will definitely take the ART to the airport and BCCK (Borneo Convention Centre Kuching),” she said.

Kho also called for collective efforts to restore greenery in the city.

“We shall look forward to the future and let’s work together to plant more trees somewhere else and work to keep more parks in our city,” she said.

Among those commenting on the post was Donny Goh, who chided the project for removing the trees because he opined tree transplant technology has been around for over a decade.

“Kuching keeps on getting more and more botak (bald) as development grows. Taking a photo for memory’s sake does not help improve the climate, initiative to raise the issue to transplant these trees will, and you lack the initiative.

“I passed by there last night and tears shed as they chopped down these trees,” he said.

For Basil Siing, progress and modernisation appeared to mean sacrificing nature.

“One day we will regret it. Global warming, strong wind and rain cause massive floods in the future. No trees means nothing can stop it,” he said.

Others such as Mark Ferguson supported removing the trees because “the tall trees could be dangerous every time there are strong winds in Kuching”.

“They can be replaced with smaller growing trees which give off more oxygen than mature trees. After all we have achieved planting over a million trees since the tree planting campaign started,” he suggested.

Fellow commenter Benny Chia agreed that smaller replacement trees could be considered.

“Smaller trees which can also provide more coverage for pedestrians and road users, reminded me of the trees at the MJC (Batu Kawa) road; small, can provide shade and the risk is lower due to the lower height,” said Chia.

Zaim Zawawi said while trees are nice, climate change is not.

“Old trees are hazardous and can’t withstand current windstorms. Myanmar and Vietnam last month went through cyclone and typhoon affecting us a bit,” he said.

Last month, Sarawak Metro Sdn Bhd (Sarawak Metro), which is implementing the ART under the Kuching Urban Transportation System (KUTS) project, had issued a notice on partial road closure along Jalan Tun Razak.

The partial closure from Sept 6 until Nov 8 takes places daily between 9.30pm and 4.30am to facilitate tree removal along the road median for construction of the ART dedicated lanes.

Sarawak Metro had urged road users to exercise caution while driving in the affected areas, as well as adhere to traffic management measures, warning signs, and speed limits to ensure the safety of road users and construction workers.