Government grilled as more than 900 trees deemed unsafe

Lawmakers called on the government to disclose more data about the risk posed by trees after its revelation yesterday that more than 900 across the city were considered dangerous.

Lawmakers yesterday asked why the government was reluctant to legislate to make regular inspections of trees by land owners mandatory, after a pregnant woman was killed when a tree fell in Mid-Levels in August.

When answering a question from lawmaker Kwok Ka-ki, Secretary for Development Paul Chan Mo-po said the government managed more than 15 million trees, excluding those in country parks, of which more than 900 were considered dangerous. But he did not elaborate on the severity of the threat they posed.

While the Development Bureau could not say how the figure was calculated, the number Chan disclosed was close to the 948 "heritage trees and problematic trees" listed on the Tree Management Office's website.

The list shows the trees' location, conditions such as "unbalanced crown" and "small amount of dieback twigs" as well as mitigation measures.

"What the public needs [to know] is whether those trees will threaten their life. A tree with an unbalanced crown does not mean it is dangerous," said Jim Chi-yung, a tree expert at the University of Hong Kong.