MAINTENANCE WORKS ON HIGH-RISK SHADE TREES IN IPOH CITY COUNCIL AREA

Ipoh City Council (MBI), through its Parks and Landscape Department, is actively carrying out Shade Tree Maintenance Works Phase 1 in eight (8) main zones in Ipoh City as an ongoing effort to ensure that shade trees remain safe, healthy and well maintained. These maintenance works cover the areas of Sengat, Lapangan, Rapat, Menglembu, Jelapang, Pengkalan, Manjoi and Meru, involving a total of 2,503 trees of various sizes at a cost of nearly RM1.4 million.  

This contract involves additional works carried out using a special allocation from the Ipoh City Council (MBI) to expedite the maintenance of shade trees at identified locations. MBI acknowledges delays in resolving some complaints internally as the high number of complaints received exceeded the Department's current capacity. Therefore, the implementation of this contract serves to complement the tree maintenance works that are always carried out in-house by the MBI Parks and Landscape Department throughout the Ipoh City area to accelerate action and enhance the safety of city residents. 

Among the scope of work is pruning and maintenance of 2,171 trees, involving the trimming of branches to reduce the load on tree structures, improve canopy balance and minimise the risk of branches breaking during bad weather or strong winds. In addition, 332 tree felling works were carried out on trees that were dead, decayed, damaged, or identified as posing a high risk to public safety and property based on technical inspections conducted. 

These works are carried out according to a schedule and priority list based on field inspections, public complaints and risk assessments by technical officers of the Parks and Landscape Department. The determination of work locations is based on complaints received from the public, monitoring and technical assessments by the Parks and Landscape Department, as well as reports submitted by MBI Councillors. Each location is prioritised according to risk level to ensure that maintenance actions are carried out in a more effective, systematic and focused manner. 

MBI also seeks the cooperation of road users to always comply with warning signs and the instructions from personnel during maintenance works to ensure the safety of all parties. Phase 2 will continue after this, involving several other zones around Ipoh City to ensure that more areas receive systematic and continuous maintenance works. 

The Ipoh City Council is committed to continuously enhancing the maintenance of shade trees as a measure to reduce the risk of accidents, preserve the city landscape and ensure that Ipoh City’s environment remains green, safe and sustainable for the wellbeing of all its residents.