Kaohsiung residents often file complaints about weeds after rainy season. On July 18, a resident submitted a complaint about Siaogang's Dapingding, saying a roadside tree is obstructing the view of a traffic light and affecting transportation safety. In the morning, workers from the Kaohsiung City Public Works Bureau's Maintenance Office trimmed the tree. However, the person that filed the complaint said weeds in the area have not been handled since last year's mayoral election. The Maintenance Office says it has a labor shortage and a limited budget but it is doing the best it can.


Drivers can't see the traffic light at this Dapingding intersection due to the tree in the way.
If the tree grows any more, it will obstruct the traffic light.

The Maintenance Office has to deal with this. It can't spend all its time planting trees. It has to maintain them as well.

The borough chief says the same problem exists at several intersections along the same road. He says both he and area residents have filed complaints with the city government, but to no avail.

Our budget is severely limited and we only have 240 workers a day at our disposal. Our office is in charge of trimming all of Kaohsiung City's roadside trees, parks, and other areas.

The Maintenance Office says it has a limited budget and manpower of just 240 workers per day. The workers are busy right now with dengue fever prevention, which leaves no one available to maintain the city's 160,000 roadside trees. The city is sending workers to trim the trees, but residents say the city government should take the initiative to do this and not address the problem only when someone complains.



車輛來到高雄小港大坪頂這個路口，抬頭卻看不到紅綠燈，從別的角度看，原來紅綠燈已經被路樹遮蓋。

高雄市民表示：「近來如果樹茂盛一點，它就變成路燈，還是紅綠燈會擋住，看不到。」

高雄市坪頂里長 梁憲宗表示：「養工處要注意，擋住紅綠燈的問題要處理，不能只顧著養樹，該剪的還是要剪。」

看不到紅綠燈，已經影響交通安全。里長說，沿同一條路，好幾處路口都有類似情形，附近居民與他曾多次向市府反映，但沒有下文。

高雄市養工處主祕 李政穎表示：「經費上真的是缺乏很多，因為我們現在能動員的人力，每天差不多240個人次，整個要修剪我們整個高雄市的行道樹、公園、還有植栽帶的部分。」

養工處坦承經費人力有限，即便目前高雄登革熱防疫加強除草，一天也只有240個人力，但全高雄光路樹就有16萬棵，很多地方無力顧及。民眾反映後，市府已經派工班沿線修剪，但居民希望市府更加積極巡視，不要被檢舉才做。