PICTURESQUE: MBKS building surrounded by greenery and flowers.
Kuching South City Council (MBKS) is spending RM3.6 million per year to ensure the city stays beautiful in terms of landscaping.
James Chan, mayor of Kuching City South revealed this recently.
“Planting trees and plants is not easy but flowers can make your day. I wish we had four seasons. To ensure we have breathtaking landscape, we will continuously make a difference to the surroundings to make Kuching worthy to be called a garden city,” he enthused.
The government has a vision for a green belt in the city but Chan believes people appreciate colours more than green foliage. With that in mind he encouraged his staff to plant both flowering plants and trees.
As a garden city, Kuching’s landscape should be vibrant and Chan made the Canna Lily Kuching City South’s official flower for planting beside major roads.
APPEALING: Bougainvillea are always a refreshing sight.
The mayor describes the exotic plant indigenous to South America as having eye-catching flowers and large green foliage.
“These tropical plants are suited to our weather and when they bloom, the vibrant colour strikes the eyes. The flowers are popular with visitors especially tourists.”
Chan also likes the Bourgainvilla which tends to bloom during dry weather, producing a profusion of colours.
He and the council secretary give ideas to their horticulturist on what trees and plants would colour-coordinate the landscape.
SHADY: Angsana trees provide welcome shade to motorists.
“The type of plants they sow depends on the area and location in the city so it will match with its ambience,” Chan revealed.
His other favourite flowering plants for the city’s landscape are the kopsia, hibiscus and spider lily.
They have planted 24 species of shrubs, eight species of ground cover, 13 palm trees and 45 types of trees.
It is a credit to the green thumbs of MBKS that their flowering plants are highly sought by botanical pilferers.
As of June this year, the total number of dead, missing and vandalised plants is 1,629 – almost equal last year’s loss (1,722).
SEASONAL: Tecoma trees bloom during certain times of the year to bring an air of enchantment to the city.
Kudos to the green fingers of MBKS for their landscaping effort though.
Under the helm of Chan, much of the city within 61 square kilometres had been transformed.
It was just a matter of time for him to sit down with his team of landscapers to strategise a plan.
“When I first took over the office, the landscape was at it lowest point and I received comments from the government and friends from the private sector,” he said.
Their comments spur the new mayor to do something and after three years, much of the landscape, especially shrubs and hedges along major roads in the city, had transformed.
One tough challenge faced in transforming the landscape was along the city’s green belt where trees were brittle and their roots had a tendency to crack up road surfaces.
Some trees that had provided shade for 20 to 30 years had to go to make way for infrastructure development and ensure safety for motorists.
Chan revealed that they fell over 500 mature trees along the green belt before replacing them with some 10,000 to 20,000 trees and shrubs.
The council was given a helping hand from the private sector especially developers who backed up its ideas as the beautiful landscape added value to properties in housing estates.
Chan revealed that some species of trees not indigenous to the state were brought over from other countries with similar climate and weather conditions.
Local indigenous wild trees or plants tend to have small flowers and cannot grow in the city’s secondary soil.
“I try planting Kapor Kruin and some other timber species but was unsuccessful. Lately the Tecoma trees the council planted 10 years ago blossomed and become the talk of folks in the city,” he pointed out.
Chan wants to plant local fruit trees to get the younger people to be familiar with them.
Finally to ensure eco-balance with nature, the council wisely refrained from planting in the city centre trees that would attract birds in order to avoid having to deal with their droppings.
Whatever the council does, it wants to ensure that the 91 plus hectares of land to be cultivated with trees and plants produce scenic landscape worthy for the capital to be called a garden city.
BURST OF PURPLE: Bougainvillea is a favourite shrub that blossoms during the dry season.
NATIONAL FLOWER: An orange hibiscus flower that brightens up the garden city.
EYE-CATCHING: Yellow Canna Lily streaked with orange.
CLOSE-UP: Delicate flowers of the Tecoma tree.
ATTRACTIVE IN PINK: MBKS’ official flower, the Canna Lily has been promoted by the mayor to visitors and tourists.
WHITE VERSION: Tecoma species with white flowers.