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THE developer of a commercial property – being constructed behind the petrol kiosk closest to All Saints Secondary School – has allayed fears that the trees along a section of Jalan Teluk Likas might be chopped down to allow for a section of the road to be widened.

A spokesman for the company said the expansion work involved a 60metre span of the stretch, which extended from “just before the main gate to All Saints to the access road for the St Agnes Primary School next door”.

“None of the trees on the reserve land here will be removed,” he said. “These include the rain trees which are growing near the Spinnaker Suites.

He explained that the firm was in the process of creating more parking spaces to help minimise the congestion on the road, per the requirements set by the Public Works Department (PWD) and City Hall.

“We have spoken to our contractor about looking after the well-being of trees. He has been asked to exercise care when building the walkway around the trees and cautioned about damaging their root systems.”

A traffic impact study had earlier been submitted to these agencies, with the PWD subsequently granting the developer way leave to carry out the road work on Jalan Teluk Likas and Jalan Tuaran.

The spokesman said the expansion effort commenced in late December and was tentatively due to be completed by October this year. 

On top of widening the section of Jalan Tuaran near the development, the spokesman said the overhead bridge would also be dismantled and modifications would be made to the traffic-light intersection in this part of the road.

“A few of the bigger trees and some of the smaller ones which lie within the development plan, approved by the authorities, will have to come down to accommodate the work on Jalan Tuaran.

He said the company engaged the services of an arborist to help guide its decisions on which of these trees to remove and which to preserve. This specialist personally had a look at the greenery growing on the affected road shoulders earlier this month, according to him.

“We are in the midst of putting together a report on his observations which will be given to the PWD and City Hall.” 

The latter agency had previously called on the developer to be more actively involved in safeguarding the trees along Jalan Teluk Likas, especially the two rain trees (Samanea saman) beside the Spinnaker Suites.

A spokeswoman for City Hall’s Landscaping Department said the rain trees were individually estimated to be more than 50 years old. 

They had been designated as “heritage trees” by ISA Certified Aborists with the Federal Ministry of Local Government and Housing in 2009, according to her.

She said this was done as part of the “Projek Pemuliharaan Pokok Matang Bernilai Warisan (Project to Rehabilitate Mature Trees with Heritage status)” sponsored by the National Landscaping Department (NLD) under the Ministry.

“The developer should set up protection zones around each of these trees to ensure that no part of their structure is damaged as a result of the roadwork,” she said.

She said City Hall would be keeping tabs on the goings-on taking place on Jalan Teluk Likas to determine if the firm was complying with its request.

Meanwhile, the agency’s Tree Pruning Unit (TPU) recently dealt with the overgrown trees in the Kepayan Low Cost Housing area and a Karamunsing neighbourhood.

The spokeswoman said, in each instance, eight Landscaping workers, some bearing chainsaws, carried out this work.

She said a skymaster and an eight-tonne was deployed to facilitate this effort.

“The action on Lorong Bunga Patuma 10 was performed at the behest of Kepayan Assemblyman Chin Teck Ming. Our TPU worked together with Sabah Electricity Bhd to trim the canopy of a tree, whose branches had encroached into the path of some power lines nearby.”

In the case of Jalan Sang Kancil, she said the trees growing around three streetlights, along a 146metre span of the road, were dealt with.

“This followed feedback from our Engineering Department peers. They had noticed that the brightness of the lights on the slope, in this part of the stretch, was being obscured behind long branches and thick growth of leaves.”

When asked how often the trees were trimmed, she said such maintenance was carried out on an ad hoc basis, as and when it was needed.

“Nevertheless, in the interest of ensuring that the lights function as they should, our staff have been asked to keep an eye on the condition of this greenery and to deal with any irregularities accordingly.”