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Speech by M.Kula Segaran at the Ipoh City Council full board meeting on Friday, 26th September 2008:  Which silly guy chop the trees? Ladies and gentlemen... The name of our city Ipoh derives from a local tree, pohon epu or commonly known as pokok Ipoh. The sap of this plant is poisonous and was used by the Orang Asli to coat the tips of the darts of their blow pipes. In this story you can say Ipoh City had from day one given great prominence and importance to trees. Unfortunately a few days ago some trees along the main round others near the Ipoh garden post office were mercilessly chopped down by our own Ipoh City council. After receiving numerous urgent appeals from Ipoh citizens I contacted the Council and was told that the trees were cut because of complaints by adjoining shop house owners. I visited the site and was shocked to note that four big trees and another 13 smaller trees have been chopped to the ground. From my investigations I learnt that the trees were chopped down because the trees were obstructing the view of a new shop house building that had been recently built in the vicinity. It is such a tragedy to chop the trees down. The big trees are at least 30 years old and the smaller trees about 5 years old. What danger could this trees have posed? The nearest tree to the building is about 30 feet away. Just trimming of the trees would have sufficed. It is important to now who made the ludicrous decision to remove the trees.And why they were not uprooted to be planted elsewhere? This sad incident reflects the lack of a proper policy by the Council as regards to tree planting and chopping and development of buildings. It is common knowledge that trees are the substance of life. They remove toxic carbon dioxide and manufacture oxygen for all life. They give us shade and character and add value and colour to our lives. There is a urgent need in Ipoh to formulated a comprehensive policy on this matter not a adhoc system where one day you plant and the next day you chop down. In many types of Council special permission is needed to cut down trees even if these trees are in one's back yard or in one's garden. Is the Council above all this rule? Road side trees serve as screens, providing motorists with pleasant scenery and selectively blocking off unsightly features. I also got many SMS and telephone calls over this tragedy. One of which read as follows "which silly guy chop d trees? 1 tree equals to to 10 air condition. Tell d silly guy to place 30 air condition there and run them for the rest of his silly life as punishment' . People are upset and shocked that the Council had not acted in the best interest of the ratepayers and environment. Studies have shown that:  trees reduce the greenhouse effect by shading our homes and office buildings. This reduces air conditioning needs up to 30%, thereby reducing the amount of fossil fuels burned to produce electricity. This combination of CO2 removal from the atmosphere, carbon storage in wood, and the cooling effect makes trees a very efficient tool in fighting the greenhouse effect. one tree that shades your home in the city will also save fossil fuel, cutting CO2 build-up as much as 15 forest trees;  planting trees remains one of the cheapest, most effective means of drawing excess CO2 from the atmosphere.  a single mature tree can absorb carbon dioxide at a rate of 48 lbs./year and release enough oxygen back into the atmosphere to support 2 human beings.  over a 50-year lifetime, a tree generates RM100, 000 worth of oxygen, provides Rm220, 000 worth of air pollution control, recycles Rm37, 500 worth of water, and controls Rm130, 000 worth of soil erosion. Trees are on the job 24 hours every day working for all of us to improve our environment and quality of life. With the slaughtering of these trees the whole facade of the area has changed to look ugly and indecent. The Council should wake up and formulate a policy that helps save trees and the environment. At all times it should go all out to protect and plant trees to turn the whole of Ipoh city into a "Garden City" otherwise Ipoh City will lose its identity and became a concrete jungle. I suggest as a first step the City Council should stop the destruction of trees and apologize to the people. Also they should start immediate treee planting schemes and then to replant trees at the very place where the trees were chopped. In future the trimming of trees should be given priority rather then cutting down trees. Planting of new trees both by the council and the Ipoh ratepayers should be encouraged. * M.Kula Segaran, DAP National Vice Chairman & MP for Ipoh Barat