Article: Felled trees raises woman’s ire

Wednesday April 29, 2009

By ANN TAN

A HOUSEWIFE is seeing red over the action of her neighbour who had chopped down six trees in front of their flats in Bandar Baru Air Itam in Penang.

A. Suganthy, 32, claimed that her neighbour, a hawker in his 40s, began felling the trees in their flat's compound in Desa Intan since November last year.

"I complained to the property management company Bandar Baru Ayer Itam Management Sdn Bhd (BBAIM) and he stopped doing it after a week.

"But he resumed his 'mission' yesterday," she said.

Suganthy said she confronted her neighbour for destroying the green lung but he turned a deaf ear.

"He told some of the residents to go ahead and lodge a complaint with the authorities. I referred the case to BBAIM again and they told me they had no jurisdiction over the trees," she said.

Suganthy said she was upset because the trees had been there for about 17 years. "They provide shade for our cars and also beautify the residential area," she said.

Suganthy said the man would chop the trees after 5pm to escape action from council personnel as it was outside working hours.

"He would then chop the tree trunk into pieces and burn them," she said, adding the man could be planning to set up an illegal hawker stall in the area.

When contacted, a council spokesperson said they had received a complaint from Suganthy and would act on it.

"We need to check first before deciding on the next course of action," she said.

This article was taken from: The Star Online: Metro: North 29 April 2009