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Olga Wong

The lack of a single law governing trees and their maintenance has been put back in the spotlight after a pregnant woman was killed yesterday by a falling tree.
Such a law was first proposed by University of Hong Kong tree specialist Professor Jim Chi-yung more than a decade ago.
The idea was studied by a taskforce headed by then chief secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen in 2009 after a schoolgirl's death the previous year but ruled out.
Present Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, then development secretary, told lawmakers in 2011 that further study would be conducted.
Nothing more has been done.
"We should have learned the lesson," Jim said yesterday. "The human race should learn from its mistakes. It has happened one after one on both public and private land. We shouldn't tolerate these accidents."
Jim, speaking after an inspection at 55 Robinson Road, where the woman was killed by an Indian rubber tree that fell from a private estate, said there were more than 40 laws concerning trees, making enforcement difficult.
The law he proposed would hold tree owners legally responsible for any threat to public safety and would ensure the quality of contractors managing trees.
"The [present] laws are very indirect. Trees in the countryside are protected by the Forest and Countryside Ordinance and trees in the urban areas are protected by various ordinances," he said.
"Flat owners tend to choose a contractor offering the lowest price, and the contractor's knowledge, skills and equipment are most likely insufficient for proper tree maintenance."
Tang, appointed to head a taskforce to overhaul tree management after a falling coral tree killed a schoolgirl at Stanley in 2008, said in 2009: "For trees on private sites, I believe the owners will properly protect them, and I do not feel the need for [further] legislation."
But Jim said leases of some private sites did not require owners to maintain and preserve old trees properly, and some contractors and arborists were not qualified, thus posing threats to public safety.
Falling trees cause death and injury almost every year in Hong Kong.
A cyclist died in June 2010 after being hit by a rotten yellow poinciana in Yuen Chau Kok, Sha Tin. Brown root rot disease felled a banyan tree on Park Lane Shopper's Boulevard in Tsim Sha Tsui in July 2012, injuring five pedestrians.
A giant banyan tree in Hong Kong Park collapsed last December but only damaged a greenhouse next to it.
 


Woman's death reignites debate over lack of an overarching tree law

Tree specialist Professor Jim Chi-yung said there were more than 40 laws concerning trees, making enforcement difficult. Photo: Sam Tsang

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Hong Kong

'We should have learned the lesson,' says expert as falling tree kills woman


The lack of a single law governing trees and their maintenance has been put back in the spotlight after a pregnant woman was killed yesterday by a falling tree.


Woman's death reignites debate over lack of an overarching tree law

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}'We should have learned the lesson,' says expert as falling tree kills woman

'We should have learned the lesson,' says expert as falling tree kills woman