Kids cried after trees were cut down at Whampoa Dr, Handicaps Welfare Association explains why it had to be done

The Handicaps Welfare Association has responded to why some trees at Whampoa Drive had to be cut down after a couple of young girls were crying over the cut trees on Mar 24.

Stomper Chris alerted Stomp to the incident and shared photos of the girls crying and hugging chopped branches from a tree.

"They were hugging and shielding the tree from being cut by a worker," said the Stomper.

"They managed to stop the workers from cutting the rest of the tree but I think that they will come again to finish the job." 

The mother of the girls, Tricia Chwee, wrote a post regarding the incident on Facebook.

Tricia told Stomp in a phone interview that her girls, aged 8 and 11, are extremely passionate about trees.

"They were screaming and crying from our home's window when they saw what was going on outside," she said.

"They then went down to plead with the workers to stop the cutting.

"The uncles were actually quite nice and activities were stopped while they waited for them to leave.

Tricia shares her daughters' passion for greenery in their neighbourhood and questioned why the trees had to be cut.

"Is there a reason for this?" she asked.

"There are a whole stretch of trees with marked crosses on them and the workers said that they need to cut down all those trees.

"These trees have been around for a long time but the cutting of trees is destroying the natural habitat of birds in the area.

"There's no more chirping in the morning."

Stomp reached out to the Handicaps Welfare Association (HWA), the organisation behind the cutting of trees on Mar 24.

A spokesman explained the decision to cut down the trees.

"The Handicaps Welfare Association (HWA) has been advised by an arborist, and been informed of the risks and hazards posed by the health condition of the trees in question," he said.

"Upon consultation with the relevant authorities about this matter, and deeply concerned over the safety of the passers-by, residents of the adjacent dwellings, and also HWA's beneficiaries and visitors, HWA has had to resort to removing and pruning the relevant trees so as to prevent any unfortunate incident from happening."