Municipal chief has ‘nothing to add’ on tree cutting saga

No further comment has been made by the city’s municipal chief after he was questioned about the elimination of trees in the Fai Chi Kei district.

José Tavares, president of the Municipal Affairs Bureau’s (IAM) executive arm, has recently referred to a previous statement issued by the bureau to avoid answering questions from the press.

Tavares reiterated that all comments were noted in the statement, while rushing towards the elevator following a recent municipal affairs advisors’ meeting, local media outlet All About Macau reported.

In the past week, it was discovered that 18 trees on Rua do Comandante João Belo in Fai Chi Kei had been cut down by the IAM, surprising residents in the district.

Lawmaker Ron Lam demanded an explanation for the elimination of these trees in his latest written inquiry, querying why there was no prior notification, as well as whether retention or relocation of the trees had been considered. Indirectly-elected Lam Lon Wai, meanwhile, reminded the government to lessen the impact on trees from public construction projects.

In the previous statement, the IAM did not mention the health condition of these 18 trees.

At the same time, local residents took to social media platforms to express their opposition, if not fury, with the decision to cut down the trees, according to All About Macau.

A social media user said that they witnessed the planting of the tree 28 years ago. “I feel very helpless [with the situation],” the social media user was cited as saying.

Another user joked about the situation, saying that “the trees have survived [typhoons] Hagupit, Hato [and] Mangkhut, but not the government.” That user was also not happy with the IAM immediately covering the soil with concrete. “The sites look like pyramids,” the user said.

Some other social media users wondered why the government decided to take down these trees when they were already so established. “It will take decades to regrow these trees,” a user said.

Another user worried that, without these trees, the street may be more prone to damage in the upcoming typhoon season. The IAM was also criticized for resorting to cutting trees when they are ill, and for the frequent lack of prior notice.

In its previous statement, the IAM explained that the trees were eliminated to make way for the widening of Rua do Comandante João Belo, in order to cope with the construction of the pumping station nearby.

The IAM pledged that the area will be transformed into a leisure promenade of 2,166 square meters.

In the three-paragraph Chinese-language statement, the IAM mentioned the leisure promenade in two separate paragraphs, when the debate took off from the cutting down of the trees.

According to the bureau, the 18 eliminated trees were deteriorating and were increasingly becoming more bent after several strong typhoons in recent years.

The bureau also blamed infection as the culprit that led to the necessary elimination of some of the 18 trees.

Two Sterculia lanceolata trees that are relatively healthy have been relocated to a place near the Border Gate, the IAM noted.