Source : Sunday Times – 5 Jul 2009
When Mr Foo Suan Pin got a contractor to chop down three fruit trees in his garden in the Holland Road area in September 2007, it did not occur to him that he was committing a crime.
But in February this year, he was slapped with a $6,000 fine after he submitted a plan to the authorities for approval of construction works to his house.
The reason? He had removed trees in a tree conservation area.
‘I decided to cut the trees because they looked sickly and were infested with red ants, and the leaves were clogging up the gutters,’ Mr Foo, 52, told The Sunday Times.
‘Before this, I had not even heard of a tree conservation area. I thought I could remove the trees because they were in my own private property.’
Under the Parks and Trees Act, you can’t fell any tree with a girth exceeding 1m growing on any land within a designated tree conservation area, or on any vacant land, except with the approval of the National Parks Board (NParks).
There are two designated tree conservation areas in Singapore. One covers the Tanglin-Bukit
Timah-Pasir Panjang area and the other is in Changi. They were chosen because of the large number of clusters of mature trees and wooded areas there.
Offenders pay a composition fine of $2,000 to NParks but can also be fined up to $50,000 if charged in court.
Singapore also has what are known as heritage trees – mature trees within and outside the tree conservation areas – that are protected by law. These trees are noted for their historical value and contribution to Singapore’s landscape.
In Mr Foo’s case, the authorities stepped in after they found that a land survey report of the property done in April 2007 had mentioned the trees, whereas Mr Foo’s new plan did not.
He is apparently not the only one who is clueless about the scheme.
The Sunday Times interviewed 12 residents of the two areas and all said they did not know that trees there were protected.
Housewife Lily Lean, 63, who lives in a semi-detached house off Farrer Road, said: ‘I had no idea that my house was in a tree conservation area, but I’ve never thought about cutting down my tree.’
She has an olive tree that is six years old and more than 1m in girth.
She is all for the law.
‘It takes years for a tree to grow, but only minutes to cut it down. I think Singaporeans need to learn that trees have life-giving qualities,’ she said.
NParks said there have been 40 trees felled without approval since 2005.
A total of 37 people have been issued with a composition fine of $2,000 for each tree felled. Seven of them removed more than one tree.
Last month, a property owner and contractor landed in court and were fined $25,000 each for cutting a 21m-tall tembusu tree in the Bishopsgate area in Tanglin. This happened in February.
It was the first case to be taken to court since 2003.
NParks decided on this course of action because the owner had blatantly disregarded its notice to retain the tree, it said.
An NParks officer examined the tree in November last year and found it to be stable and healthy.
Although instructions were given to the owner to retain the tree, he told the contractor to cut it down.
In Mr Foo’s case, he said he was misled by his contractor, who was recommended to his mother by NParks when a tree fell in her property. The contractor had said it was okay to chop it.
‘If he did not know the regulations, then how was I expected to know?’
The two mango trees and one rambutan tree had girths of between 1.2m and 2.8m.
Mr Foo said they were already there when he bought the house.
The Sunday Times understands that the contractor was also fined.
Mr Foo sought help from Holland-Bukit Timah MP Christopher De Souza, who wrote a letter of appeal on his behalf.
‘I lost my job as an IT consultant in May last year. I was hoping the fine would be lowered. I even offered to plant three fruit trees back to replace those that were felled,’ he said. He is still unemployed and looking for a job.
In the end, he decided to pay the fine to avoid going to court.
While the chapter is now closed, what bugs him is that no one had informed him of the legislation when he bought the property in 2007.
‘I think the Government should do more than enforce the law. They should have more public education on this,’ he said.
‘If they knew I had bought a property in a tree conservation area, they could have sent me a notice to remind me not to remove trees within the property.’
In response, Mr Simon Longman, director of streetscape from NParks, said that land owners or developers are required to engage a registered architect or engineer in any development project, and they would be aware of the tree conservation provisions in the Parks and Trees Act.
He said that the tree conservation areas have also been widely publicised, in particular in 2003 when property developer DTZ Debenham Tie Leung felled a 150-year-old Hopea Sangal tree without permission.
Information on the areas is also available on government websites.
Dr Shawn Lum, president of the Nature Society, said that while one could always argue that more can be done to increase awareness about policies, it is also up to the individual to know what is happening in the community.
‘If people just don’t pay attention or are apathetic, then no amount of education can help.’
Meanwhile, Mr Foo is looking forward to moving into his $2.5 million Holland Road home at the end of this month.
Despite being poorer by $6,000 because of the trees, he intends to plant some in his garden. He is considering jackfruit or palm trees.
‘As long as you keep them in good condition, they won’t be a problem,’ he said.
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