1.7 million trees planted in all

Kundasang: Even Lembah Permai, the site for the grand finale of the “1 million trees for Sabah” project here can get flash floods due to the disappearance of trees, said State Local Government and Housing Assistant Minister Datuk Dr Joachim Gunsalam.

He said this when closing the programme by Kota Kinabalu High Court environmental working group and later planted the millionth tree seedling.

“We all want Kundasang to be green and environment friendly to enhance the image for tourism,” he concluded.

Earlier, High Court Judge Ravinthran Paramaguru, representing Chief Justice Tan Sri Richard Malanjun, said the project is about fostering respect for the environment, creating awareness and the priceless inheritance for the future generation of Sabah.

Meanwhile, Deputy Registrar and coordinator of the programme, Elsie Primus, informed the final tally of 1,707,981 trees that really exceeded the target was due to contributions by other companies who held their own tree planting programmes and wanted their efforts to be counted.

For example, Forest Solutions Sdn Bhd had planted 516,000 while Sapulut Forest Development planted 50,000.

From the schools in Sabah that participated in the tree planting competition, their total contributions were 140,587, she said.

During the weekend, a total of 3,000 trees were planted in Kundasang involving 18 villages where 2,000 seedlings were contributed by Forest Solutions while the rest were from Timberwell Sdn Bhd, she said. – Oswald Supi

Source: Daily Express