PETALING JAYA: A trader was fined RM4,000 by the Kuantan magistrates’ court after he chopped down a Yellow Flame tree (Batai Laut) without permission in April this year.
According to New Straits Times, the 55-year-old man was charged with cutting down the tree a diameter of more than 0.8m within the jurisdiction of the Kuantan City Council without getting any written consent from the council.
The act was allegedly commited at Bandar Indera Mahkota at about 11am on April 21.
The offence which is under Section 35H of the Town and Country Planning Act 1976 carries a maximum fine of RM10,000, or up to three months’ jail, or both.
The trader pleaded guilty to the charge.
City council’s prosecuting officer Mohammad Nur Hafiz Ramlan said that the Batai Laut tree, or scientifically known as Peltophorum pterocarpum, which is more than half a century old, was protected, and placed under the city council’s care.
A huge cost was spent by the city council to maintain the heritage tree and the decision to cut the tree has resulted in an eyesore to the public.
The man’s counsel, Mohd Shuhairi Ziqrul Sapi pleaded for a minimum fine, as his client had to feed his wife and four children with his RM2,000 monthly income.
Magistrate Wahidah Zainal Abidin ordered the man to pay a RM4,000 fine, in default of two months jail. The man paid the fine.
The man had given instruction to some individuals to cut the tree, which was blocking his business premises, and a video of the tree-cutting incident was capture and shared to Facebook.
