Mount Faber trees fall to development

The 15- to 25-year-old angsana and ketapang trees had to go to make way for road realignment, says URA

By Alicia Yeo

MATURE trees at the foot of Mount Faber Park paid the price for standing in the way of urban redevelopment.

Half of the area's dozen or so angsana and ketapang trees had to go so that a stretch of Mount Faber Road at the entrance to the park could be 'realigned to make better use of the land', said the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

Lamenting the loss of greenery, Mrs LaJeunesse with the stump of one of the felled trees, the outcome of the land clearance to make way for the raod realignment which is scheduled to be completed by April next year. -- JAMES HODSON

Two weeks ago, wor- kers started felling the trees, which were 15 to 25 years old with girths of about 2 to 3 m.

Both angsana and ketapang trees are deciduous, and grow to an average of 30 m in height.

The ketapang, also called the sea almond tree because its fruit tastes like almonds, is commonly found on seashores.

'There is potentially more than 2,000 sq m of land to be gained from the road realignment,' a spokesman for the URA said.

The land, about half the size of a football field, is not part of Mount Faber Park.

It will be redeveloped along with an adjacent plot which was vacated by the International Community School three monthsago.

Details of the de- velopment have yet to be finalised although the road realignment will be completed by next April.

The URA said there were guidelines for removing trees along public roads.

Approval by the National Parks Board (NParks) must be received in all cases.

An NParks spokesman said that the URA was given the green light to get rid of the trees as they were not 'good specimens worthy of transplanting', the process by which trees are uprooted and planted elsewhere.

'Moreover, the survival rate of these trees is low after they have been moved,' she said.

The NParks spokesman added that there was no endangered wildlife in the area which might be affected.

But a Mount Faber resident, Mrs Catherine LaJeunesse, 37, was furious to see the green space leave the scene.

The Canadian businesswoman, who owns a shop selling South-east Asian artefacts, said: 'Not all urban development is bad.

'I'm just saying that we have to preserve what green spaces we have left.'

Mrs LaJeunesse added that the whole block should be part of Mount Faber Park.

'Once the authorities decided to make this area green, they should stick with it,' she said.

'Don't make the park pay the price for redevelopment.'