ISA HK/China --- HK Tree News (Shatin Tree Failure)

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Dear Station Members,

The Shatin Tree Failure on 14.6.2010 which killed a man came like whirlwind to sweep HK for a few days, but then disappeared just as quickly upon the political debate of the Chief Executive with a politician a few days later. This shows how the media can raise the public sentiment in the HK society & how the HK public is influenced by them at large.

ISA HK/China wishes to offer our deepest condolence to the victim of the Tree Failure in Shatin, & hopes the same event will never happen again in our territory or anywhere. This is the second Tree Failure that killed within two years in HK.

The mobile phone of the Station Manager (SM) started ringing within half an hour of the tragic accident from media & Station members. Most were asking for a 'professional opinion' of the incident. The SM simply said he could not provide, because none of us was there to assess the tree & site to get any idea of what was happening, & we are not supposed to anyway. So many experts are now working on this event & a law suit has been vowed by the family of the victim. Anything we say may become a citation by somebody, & this is unwise. This is not our fight & it is not following ISA Mission. Therefore, our name has not appeared in any of the media, & no news may be good news for us this round.

On the other hand, the media have been very harsh on the reporting (see below) of the incident. The criticism were relentless & without mercy. The good side of it may be to raise public awareness on Tree Safety. But workload may increase as the public are turning into ' Tree Watchers ' & may call for help whether genuinely needed or not. This may burn the fuse in resource allocation for the already stressed service providers.

ISA HK/China wishes to take this opportunity for an education to our Working Arborists in the field :

1. Do your Assessment carefully. Carelessness can kill. Tree Assessment is not the same as Tree Survey. It looks deep into the structure, safety & health of a tree. Don't mix them up & don't do it if you are not sure whether you are capable. This will give you some good night sleep.

2. Focus on the accuracy of your reporting, not on the cosmetic packaging of it. Big, wordy & colorful report may not be an accurate report. The more you write, the more liable you are to mistakes. Professional Arborist Reports around the world are written in a simple, concise & precise manner. In a Court scenario, the Judges & Lawyers will not appreciate how pretty you present your report, but how accurate it is. And the ultimate arena for an Arborist is in Court. The Arborist Profession goes to Court more often than any other greenery profession around the world in Tree Dispute.

3. Learn how to do Tree Assessment on site, not in a classroom. Seminar may help, but do not take it as gospels. Come to ISA International Conference to meet the world to collect experience. You will then find out credentials are not your only bastion in protecting your work. Your profound knowledge & practical experience would be.

4. Learn Tree Climbing & Tree Work. Only by being aloft & cutting wood, you would appreciate how strong a crotch would be in wind & how much impact it has when falling. Practicing Arborists around the world usually do tree climbing & tree work one time or another in their working life. Missing it would be like a doctor not knowing how to handle injection needles. This is the reason why we require our IPA (http://isahkchina.blogspot.com/2010/04/isa-hkchina-hk-tree-news-14410-report.html) to be able to climb & rig. You speak louder in public if you can.

Tree Failure is a fact of life. Trees grow to shed unwanted parts. Who can stop Mother Nature? It is the Arborist Profession to try to catch Tree Failure before it happens. It's always a cat & mouse game. Sometimes we win, sometimes we may lose.

There is an old Chinese proverb: " 沉舟側畔千杋過，病樹前頭萬木春 " (A thousand ship will pass by a boat that unfortunately sank. Ten Thousand trees will bloom ahead of a sick one.). May a tragic incident not discourage the progress of our development, & may our profession be more conscientious to save lives as we should.

best regards,

Sammy Au
Station Manager

"If a tree is not designed, installed, maintained & inspected properly, it is likely to become a liability rather than an asset."

"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."

蠹眾木折頻奪命 隙大牆壞禍必深

今年三月成立的樹木管理辦事處和綠化及園境辦事處日前首次亮相，交代工作進展。有關官員沾沾自喜地聲稱，全港百分之九十八的樹木已完成評估工作，對於部分健康有問題的樹木亦已進行詳細檢討，並採取及時補救措施，「所以已無危險的東西」。不料話音剛落，沙田便發生大樹疑不堪腐爛而攔腰折斷事故，一名騎單車路過的市民慘遭「泰山壓頂」，頭部重創危殆，這無異摑了當局一記響亮的耳光。

塌樹現場鄰近屋邨，更是通往第一城的必經之路，平時人來人往，事發時人流不多，因此未釀成重大傷亡，已屬不幸中之大幸。倒塌的盾柱木則是本港常見的綠化樹，高十三米，直徑四十厘米，約十年樹齡。從塌樹的橫切面來看，五至六成面積已腐爛，初步推測此樹遭嚴重蟲害，至少已腐爛五年時間。人們想問的是，既然這棵樹早就病入膏肓，為甚麼樹木辦視若無睹，沒有「及時採取補救措施」呢？

歷史往往有驚人相似之處，兩年前赤柱發生塌樹殺人事件，肇事樹木曾發出惡臭，附近居民及區議員多次向當局反映有關情況，就在塌樹前一周，康文署還煞有介事地派人巡查，居然得出樹木健康狀況「可以接受」的結論。死因庭就此案展開聆訊，指出這是一宗本來「可以避免」的悲劇，暗示這不是天災而是人禍。當局亦曾信誓旦旦地保證，要避免發生類似悲劇，然而，本來「可以避免」的悲劇卻再一次發生。

兩宗塌樹事件如出一轍，足證樹木辦形同虛設。眾所周知，本港樹木管理亂象不止，根源在於有份管理樹木的部門有十多個，它們各自為政，權責不清，碰到問題就互相扯皮推諉，然而港府經過多個月的「研究」之後，沒有對症下藥，反而成立不知所謂的樹木辦及綠化辦兩個機構，僅僅提供有關指引及進行資料收集等幕後工作，而沒有觸及樹木管理政出多門的弊端，更沒有罰則，根本是虛應故事。

正如有立法會議員批評，政府「各處自管門前樹」，這個模式一日不變，塌樹意外一日難除。環保團體亦指出，制訂指引只能算是首個工作，重要的是如何將指引落到實處，因此樹木辦必須多落區巡查，而不能單靠各部門報告。還有人諷刺，樹木辦是無權又無責的清閒部門，是「廢柴辦」，唯一可見的成效就是每年浪費近二千萬元公帑，以及為公務員提供更多加官晉級的機會。
樹木辦是廢柴辦的看法確有先見之明。未成立樹木辦之前，大樹頻頻塌下；成立樹木辦後，大樹依然塌下。颱風季節即將到來，全港還有多少棵嚴重腐爛、搖搖欲墜的大樹？還會發生多少宗樹塌人亡的悲劇？想一想就令人不寒而慄。

人們常說，君子不立危牆之下。但在香港，大樓可以塌下，大樹可以塌下，招牌可以塌下，鐵閘可以塌下，幾乎沒有甚麼不可以塌下，再加上不時從天而降的鏹雨、鐵錘、剪刀、電視機等危險物品，可謂危機四伏，防不勝防。曾有人開玩笑說，出門最好行騎樓底、戴頭盔，然而，若是不幸被塌樓、塌樹擊中，仍然有死無生。在港府的無能管治之下，香港處處都是殺人的陷阱，幾乎沒有安全的地方。

「蠹眾而木折，隙大而牆壞，有隙蠹而不亡者，天下鮮矣。」港府就如同腐爛蛀空的大樹，外強中乾，經不起一陣風雨；就如同裂縫日益擴大的牆壁，隨時有倒塌的危險。如果市民對港府這棵爛樹、這堵爛牆掉以輕心，如果中央政府繼續坐視不管，更大的災難還將接踵而來。