IPOH: The Taiping Municipal Council has set up a special committee to determine the severity of the damage incurred by a 131-year-old raintree which was partly uprooted during heavy rain on Saturday.
The council's Landscape Department chief Mior Rosli Abdullah said the incident happened at 9.20pm. No injuries were reported as the road lined with the raintrees was closed off to vehicles.
"The tree did not completely fall to the ground, only some of its branches did. Cleanup work has been completed.
"The arborists are currently conducting a Visual Tree Assessment (VTA) on the affected tree in order to identify any defects or problems that may lead to structural instability or failure," he said.
Mior Rosli said a police report has also been lodged. The the team is currently awaiting the full report before they proceeding with any decision on whether to treat the tree or otherwise.
It was reported that part of Taiping Lake Gardens had been closed off to motorised vehicles since Dec 15 last year, in a move to preserve its precious rain trees.
The 630m-stretch of road, which makes up about a quarter of the entire Lake Gardens loop, has now permanently become a pedestrian walk and cycling path.
The decision to ban motorised vehicles was made after consultations with several quarters including the National Landscape Department, Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) and public interest groups
To date, the council has officially tagged 113 raintrees at the park and also maintains over 1,300 other types of trees with help from arborists and experts from the FRIM.
Previously used as a mining ground, Taiping Lake Garden is the first public garden established during the British rule in the country in 1880 and is fully administered by the council.