雙語社評齊齊聽

[英語 (足本收聽)]

[普通話 (足本收聽)]

TWO STONEWALL TREES in front of Tang Chi Ngong Building of the Hong Kong University have been cut down by the Lands Department. Conservationists question whether there are sufficient grounds for felling the trees while the government claims it has considered all the factors and emphasises that the trees have been cut down for public safety reasons. The fact that both sides stick to their own arguments shows that there are some obvious shortcomings in the government's urban forestry management. The Tree Management Office (TMO) is ineffective in its co-ordinating role and its authority has been eroded gradually, which results in a loss of public trust in it. There is a need to improve the communication between government officials and the public. The government should strengthen the functions of the TMO, listen more to the opinions of non-government experts and rebuild the authority of the TMO. Otherwise similar disputes over tree felling will keep recurring in the future.

[ENG audio 1]

The government emphasises that it has had no choice but to cut down the trees. However, non-government experts have completely different opinions on the risk of the trees collapsing and their assessment of some basic facts contrasts entirely with that of the government. It inevitably arouses concern whether the authority has listened sufficiently to the opinions of experts from all sides before felling the trees. In 2015, the government cut down 4 stonewall trees on Bonham Road for safety reasons. The decision was controversial, but the authority then had at least reported to the Central and Western District Council and had consulted the Expert Panel on Tree Management (the predecessor of the current Urban Forestry Advisory Panel). However, in the recent decision to cut down the trees, it is reported that the government has not consulted the Urban Forestry Advisory Panel. It is inevitable that the authority and credibility of the TMO are questioned.

[ENG audio 2]

Ten years ago, an old tree in Stanley collapsed and a female HKU student was killed tragically. To improve tree management, the Development Bureau established the TMO and recruited a tree expert, Lawrence Chau, to head it. The Expert Panel on Tree Management was also set up to provide the government with professional opinions on tree management policy and operation.

[ENG audio 3]

The original purpose of establishing the TMO was to have an authoritative organisation at the bureau level to formulate policies on tree management and to co-ordinate different government departments and mediate between them. Early this month, the government re-designated Florence Ko Wan-yee, a senior geotechnical engineer from the Civil Engineering and Development Department, to head the TMO. Ko's expertise is in slope safety and it is said that she does not have any background in arboriculture. It is inevitable that conservationists are concerned that the government's future urban forestry work will focus only on safety and risk management.

[ENG audio 4]

In recent years, the government wants to review the orientation of the TMO and has even considered changing its name to Urban Forestry Office to emphasise that its planning and management tasks are not limited to trees only. The Development Bureau replaced the Expert Panel on Tree Management with the Urban Forestry Advisory Panel last year. However, many unofficial experts on the panel reside abroad permanently. Two local authoritative experts who had been members of the Expert Panel on Tree Management were not invited to join the panel again. Some environmentalists have pointed out that compared with the former Expert Panel on Tree Management, the current Urban Forestry Advisory Panel meets much less often.

[ENG audio 5]

The government does not have any senior official who is familiar with the issue of trees to be in charge of the whole thing. If the government wants to strengthen its authority and credibility in tree and urban forestry management, it must listen more to the opinion of local tree experts and improve its communication with the civil society to prevent people from feeling that the government is bent on going its own way.

[ENG audio 6]

樹木管理眼高手低 政府斬樹未能服眾

地政總署移除香港大學鄧志昂樓前方兩棵石牆樹，保育人士質疑當局斬樹理據不足，政府則表示有通盤考慮，強調斬樹是為了公眾安全。雙方各執一詞，折射政府的城市林務管理存在明顯缺失，樹木管理辦事處（下稱樹木辦）統籌角色不彰，權威日墜未能服眾，官民溝通有待改善。政府需要提升樹木辦的職能，多吸納民間專家意見，重建樹木辦權威，否則類似的斬樹紛爭，未來只會不斷重演。

[PTH audio 1]

政府強調斬樹迫不得已，然而民間專家對塌樹風險以至一些基本事實研判，看法截然不同，難免令人關注當局事前有否充分聽取各方專家意見。2015年，政府以安全為由，移除般咸道4棵石牆樹，引起不少爭議，然而當局至少有向中西區區議會匯報，以及諮詢當時的樹木專家小組（即目前城市林務諮詢小組的前身）。相比之下，今次政府斬樹決定，據悉並沒有諮詢林務小組，權威和公信力難免受到質疑。

[PTH audio 2]

10年前，赤柱一棵古樹塌下，一名港大女生不幸喪生。為了改善樹木管理，發展局成立樹木辦，聘請樹木專家周錦超出任總監，又成立樹木專家小組，就樹木管理政策及運作提供專業意見。

[PTH audio 3]

當局成立樹木辦的原意，是在政策局的層面建立一個權威機構，制定樹木管理政策，發揮調解和統籌不同部門的作用。本月初，政府調派高級土力工程師高韻儀出任樹木辦總監一職。高韻儀來自土木工程拓展署，專長是斜坡安全，被指欠缺樹藝方面背景，保育人士難免擔心，未來政府處理城市林務工作，會一面倒側重安全風險管理。

[PTH audio 4]

近年政府有意檢討樹木辦定位，甚至考慮易名為「城市林務辦」，藉以強調規劃管理着眼點不止於樹木。前年發展局成立城市林務諮詢小組，取代樹木專家小組。可是小組內多名非官方專家長居海外，舊小組兩名本地權威民間樹木專家，卻未再獲得邀請。有環保人士指出，較諸昔日樹木專家小組，現在城市林務諮詢小組開會次數顯著減少。

[PTH audio 5]

政府缺乏熟悉樹木問題的高級官員主持大局，若要提升樹木和城市林務管理的權威和公信力，必須多聽本地樹木專家意見，加強官民溝通，避免予人一意孤行之感。

[PTH audio 6]

明報社評2018.05.22

Presented by lecturers of Hong Kong Community College, PolyU and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Ms CHENG, Joyce Yu-ting

Lecturer

www.hkcc-polyu.edu.hk/staff_directory/language_communication/CHENG,_Joyce_Yu-ting-85.html

講師

www.hkcc-polyu.edu.hk/staff_directory/language_communication/WANG,_Iris_Xiang-342.html

【Bilingual Editorial】