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The Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Mrs Betty Fung, was saddened by the injury of Mr Choi Kit-keung during the collapse of a Peltophorum pterocarpum tree near Yuen Chau Kok Park in Sha Tin on June 14. She sent her deepest regards to Mr Choi's family and undertook to offer them all possible assistance.
Mrs Fung today (June 15) visited staff of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) who were inspecting trees in the vicinity of the Yuen Chau Kok Park. She was briefed on the procedures of tree inspection and the operation of equipment including the resistograph. She called on staff to carry out the tree works diligently to ensure comprehensive inspection of the 400-plus trees in the vicinity of the site within three days.
About 30 members from the LCSD tree team took part in today's inspection work in the vicinity of the Yuen Chau Kok Park. A total of 150 trees were examined of which nine were found to be in need of detailed assessment; and four of these nine trees were subsequently removed. The detailed inspection work would continue in the coming two days.
As many as 760,000 trees are currently under LCSD's custody of which some 390,000 are located at venues with high pedestrian and traffic flow. The LCSD has conducted initial inspections on these 390,000 trees in the past three months. 1,300 of them have been identified as in need of further inspection. Detailed assessment of the individual trees have been conducted and follow-up actions taken by LCSD.
"LCSD will maintain the trees under its custody with care and prudence. We will step up our inspection work in various districts and take necessary follow-up actions to enhance our tree maintenance work and safety of the general public," Mrs Fung said.
"We attach great importance to maintaining trees under our custody and professional training of our staff. In fact, the strength of our dedicated tree teams has increased from some 120 to more than 210 members while venue-based staff will also carry out regular inspections of trees in their respective venues."
"We seek to deploy experienced staff to take up tree management duties and will provide them with continuous training locally and overseas in order to enhance their professional knowledge and skills."
Mrs Fung said, "We are working closely with the Tree Management Office of the Development Bureau to conduct a thorough investigation into the cause of the tree collapse on June 14 and the follow-up work required."
Ends/Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Issued at HKT 20:28
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