Malaysia needs more certified arborists — Raja Kamarul Bahrin

KUALA LUMPUR: The government hopes the number of certified arborists can be expanded to 450 in 2020, taking into consideration that three arborists should be present at each local authority.

Housing and Local Government deputy minister Datuk Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah Raja Ahmad Shah said to date, there were only 109 certified arborists under the Malaysian Aborist Association ( PArM) and only 25 of them obtained the Certificate of Tree Risk Assessment Qualification.

“With the awareness of the benefits of trees, as well as the danger posed by the trees when they were not well maintained, the efforts by government agencies, NGOs (non- governmental organisations) and the private sector (to look after them) should be enhanced,” he said at the 2018 International Arboriculture Conference Kuala Lumpur (INTAC KL 2018), here yesterday.

He expressed the ministry’s support on the Human Resources Ministry plan to train arborists through skills education based on National Occupational Skills Standards by cooperating with Standards Malaysia, and the Environment, Science, Technology and Climate Change Ministry.

Given the existence of this important knowledge and skillbased training recognised internationally through mechanisms of international standards, it is time for local authorities to carry out arboriculture works in order to ensure all trees in the cities were safe for the public, he said.

Furthermore, Raja Kamarul Bahrin said in 2018, 80 per cent or 25.97 million people from the total of 32.47 million Malaysian population were urban dwellers, and they were exposed to the risk of falling trees in city areas.

“However, the occurrence of fallen trees is not only during the storm as seen recently near KLCC (Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre) here in Kuala Lumpur. This is the issue that requires urgent attention by all parties to protect lives,” he said.

He added, the fallen trees might not able to be completely avoided, but the signs of defect in the tree were detectable to the trained arborists and the hazardous trees can be cut down to maintain public safety.

The international conference of INTAC KL 2018 themed Safety, Resiliency and Sustainability, was participated by about 180 arborists and stakeholders from Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong and the United States.

The three- day conference since Tuesday ( Sept 25) was coorganised by PArM, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur City Hall ( DBKL), National Landscape Department, Forest Research Institute Malaysia ( FRIM), and Putrajaya Corporation. — Bernama