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  Straits Times 21 Apr 07
More trees? Take care that we don't breed mozzies
Dr Ong Siew Chey

Straits Times 16 Apr 07
Trees cut for road works are replaced with new ones
Reply from Naleeza Ebrahim (Ms) Deputy Director, Media Relations Land Transport Authority

Straits Times 6 Apr 07
Spare a tree and I will give up my car
Letter from Chong Chin Onn

ARE more trees being cut down for expressway development?

Just look at Bedok North Avenue 3, between Bedok Reservoir Road and Bedok North Road. One year ago, it was a beautiful tree-lined street. Now with redevelopment completed, not a single mature tree is left to provide shade. It is so glaring to drive there in the daytime.

Along PIE, near the Bedok Reservoir flyover, workers are cutting down trees to make way for a new lane or something. Must the trees be sacrificed just so that motorists can save a few minutes?

Now that we are experiencing climate change, there is all the more reason to save those trees.

If sacrificing my car would save a tree, I would.

Straits Times 16 Apr 07
Trees cut for road works are replaced with new ones
Reply from Naleeza Ebrahim (Ms) Deputy Director, Media Relations Land Transport Authority

I REFER to the letter, 'Spare a tree and I will give up my car' (The Straits Times, April 6), in which Mr Chong Chin Onn laments that trees are being cut for road widening.

We understand and share Mr Chong's concern for the environment. We would like to assure him that the Land Transport Authority makes every effort to preserve trees. Where possible, trees that have to be cut are replaced with new ones.

We have planted about 700 new trees and shrubs in the vicinity of the works area, even before the works started, to replace those to be removed during construction. When construction is completed, another 500 trees and shrubs will be added. New trees will take time to provide the shade and beauty afforded by mature trees.

However, this is one of the trade-offs if we keep building more roads to support growing vehicle numbers.

Mr Chong has raised an issue that will become more pressing and pertinent as Singapore continues to grow and develop within a finite land area, causing demands for land use to increasingly compete and conflict.

The only sustainable way forward is to attract more people to choose public transport over cars, bearing in mind the trade-offs that have to be made.

We laud Mr Chong for his willingness to sacrifice his car to save a tree.

Straits Times 21 Apr 07
More trees? Take care that we don't breed mozzies
Dr Ong Siew Chey

I AM happy to know that more than 100,000 plants and trees will be planted in our garden city over the next year.

However, it is important that the right types of trees are chosen.

We are all aware of the danger of mosquitoes breeding in stagnant water in drains, flower pots and gutters but we seldom pay attention to the leaves that fall from trees.

In the Botanic Gardens fallen leaves are in abundance but the maintenance is so good that they do not constitute a hazard.

The same thing cannot be said for the other side of Cluny Park Road. Many of the trees there have large thick leaves that take weeks or even months to decay. Fallen leaves are found everywhere. Those in the monsoon drains and on road surfaces get washed away during a heavy rain, but those in the small side drains and on roadsides are rarely cleared, contrary to the claims by private contractors of the National Environment Agency in their flyers.

Aedes mosquito eggs are known to withstand dryness for long periods, and while the small pockets of water on fallen leaves that attract mosquitoes to lay eggs may dry up before hatching takes place, the eggs will hatch with the next rain. I once counted six larvae on one leaf.

It is important for us to choose wisely the trees to plant because of our environment. I hope the authorities will choose those with small or delicate leaves that do not collect pockets of water or which will decay easily.
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