KAPIT: Three staff members of Kapit District Council have received praise for their swift action in removing a huge “kapok” tree that fell across Jalan Puan Sri Tiong here at 6:30am yesterday.
One of them, identified as Steve, who stays at a worker’s barrack at Hill Top area, said he heard the early morning loud crash.
“I checked what it was and saw that a huge tree had fallen on the road making it impassable to traffic.
“I immediately called my colleague Mohd Hadenan and Iling Jau to get the chain saw from the office store to clear the fallen tree. Luckily nobody or vehicle was passing by the area during the incident otherwise a tragedy could have happened. A car belonging to one of our staff that was parked outside our parking shed nearby was almost hit by the tree,” said Steve.
The trio took about half an hour to clear the mess before a team from the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) Kapit arrived at the scene after receiving a call from a member of the public on the matter.
The “kapok” tree is believed to be more than 70 years old. It produces an oblong shaped fruit the size of a tennis ball that contains cotton suitable for making pillows and mattresses.
