Editorial: Protecting the city’s lungs

Recent heavy downpours — accompanied by strong winds or sometimes a gale — have frequently caused serious problems in Jakarta.

Apart from creating pools of water in many parts of the capital city that have led to severe traffic jams, the storms also brought down many trees — not necessarily old ones — along many of the city streets that unfortunately damaged dozens of cars and motorcycles parked under them or traveling on the streets along which the trees stood.

Falling trees still remain a threat as the extreme weather has yet to recede and strong winds could return at anytime. As it is impossible to change the weather, or avoid raging storms, we do hope that the city authorities will take necessary actions to prevent, or at least minimize, the impact of the natural phenomenon.

The latest heavy downpour and gale on March 16 resulted in the damage of at least 14 cars and several motorcycles due to toppled trees. Fortunately, no casualties were reported.

The Jakarta Parks and Cemeteries Agency recorded that about 40 trees, mostly planted in the 1970s, toppled that day. Meanwhile, fallen branches from hundreds of trees also blocked roads and worsened the traffic gridlocks in many parts of the city.

The presence of roadside trees is undeniably important in a city like Jakarta, of which many green areas — parks, swampy areas and even small lakes — have been converted into commercial sites and other urban facilities.

Roadside trees not only help make riding or driving more pleasurable but also help reduce air pollution, such as that produced by vehicle exhaust.

With less than 10 percent of Jakarta being green areas (far from the ideal figure of 30 percent), tree planting,
including on roadsides, is vital to make the city more comfortable.

Therefore, we appreciate moves to plant trees on any vacant land by government agencies, private companies and individuals.

However, the trees should not become a threat to people, including road users. We therefore need to seriously heed the advice of those knowledgeable about planting strong and safe trees in our surroundings.

Environmental experts claim that many trees along the city’s roadsides are not safe in times of raging storms, particularly the fast growing angsana (Pterocarpus indicus) trees, the branches of which are easily broken when bent by strong winds, let alone gale-force winds.

Extreme weather still plagues the city as heavy rains and strong wind remain a threat.

The city administration, therefore, needs to anticipate such a threat so that no more falling trees endanger the lives of road users and their property.

Identifying and replacing dangerous trees would help minimize such incidents, while maintenance efforts like regular pruning may also help unwanted incidents during storms.

To start with, the city needs an adequate budget allocation to plant more trees as part of the city’s re-greening campaign and to cover the maintenance of the trees.

The moral of the story is that Jakarta needs stronger trees that can withstand heavy storms, which can visit the city at any time.