Trees along major roads, parks are inspected at least once in 18 months
Esther Ng, Today Online 11 May 10;
SINGAPORE - Taxi driver Teo Eng Loo was driving along Scotts Road two weeks ago when he saw a tree on the road. It had fallen and hit a bus.
"It was rather big ... and it blocked two lanes, leaving just one lane passable to traffic," he told MediaCorp. "I didn't see any passengers, but the bus driver was standing by the side of the road looking at the damage."
It was not raining at the time (just before 5pm), Mr Teo said.
The week before, contractor Ho Chye Kiat had called up the MediaCorp Hotline about a tree that had fallen onto a taxi and a lorry on Woodlands Road at around 4.50pm. It had brought traffic to a standstill.
"It was raining heavily, and that could have caused the tree to fall," said Mr Ho, who added that the impact damaged the taxi's roof. According to the police, the taxi driver and his passenger were injured and sent to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
Since March, about 10 people have called the MediaCorp Hotline to report on trees falling on buses, taxis and cars, raising the question of how safe roads are from falling trees.
According to the National Parks Board, (NParks), Singapore's 1 million or so trees in parks, nature reserves and along road verges are generally healthy, and tended to by more than 100 certified arborists,
"Incidences of broken branches or fallen trees were mainly due to adverse weather conditions rather than poor health or tree rot," said NParks streetscape director Simon Longman.
In the last five years, the average annual incidence of fallen trees or branches has gone down about 62 per cent from some 3,000 cases recorded in 2000.
Although "wind-storm events are fairly rare", Singapore Arboriculture Society president Rick Thomas said that "high wind-forces" - when they occur - can be potentially destructive to trees.
Brittle-wood trees such as the angsana have a "higher probability of failure" than those with harder or stronger wood such as the tembusu. However, "break-out" failures can be avoided through regular tree inspections, he said.
Trees along major roads or in parks are inspected at least once in 18 months to ensure that they are "safe and stable under normal weather conditions", NParks told MediaCorp.
All trees under their maintenance are pruned regularly to remove dead, dying and defective branches. "Crown reduction" to reduce the size and height of a tree is also carried out.
Trees that are vulnerable during rainstorms - such as the albizia, a fast-growing soft wood tree - are also replaced with stronger species.
Under NParks' tree management programme, a team will arrive at a location within an hour of receiving feedback. From then, it takes "between 10 minutes and a few hours" to clear any obstruction, depending on traffic and the tree.
NTUC Income - which has the biggest share of the motor insurance market here - has not seen any increase in claims from policyholders about vehicles damaged by falling trees, a spokesman said.
