Criticism mounts over Bandung Mayor's handling of illegal tree felling

Bandung City Councilor Andri Gunawan has criticized Mayor Muhammad Farhan's response to the illegal felling of 10 trees on Jalan LL.RE Martadinata, commonly known as Jalan Riau. Gunawan stated that the mayor's anger alone is insufficient and called for a more systematic approach and decisive law enforcement.

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People are happy that the Mayor is angry, so (action) should be done systematically.

Gunawan believes the mayor's frustration should be backed by concrete actions, not just words. He suggested that the trees were likely removed to enhance the visibility of a videotron screen installed on a building housing a padel court and a cafe. This, he argued, points to a misperception among some netizens who focused on the padel court rather than the videotron issue.

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I have the conclusion that the trees were cut to make the visibility of the videotron good.

This incident is not the first of its kind in the Jalan Riau area. Gunawan recalled a previous case where a classic street lamp disappeared after a videotron was installed nearby. He expressed concern about recurring instances where visual obstructions are removed, citing the recent tree felling as another example of prioritizing videotron visibility at the expense of public infrastructure and greenery.

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There have been many oversights, the event of destroying visual obstacles is not the first event on Jalan Riau, now at the padel place so that the videotron visibility is good, trees are sacrificed. Previously, it happened at Graha Pos, one classic street lamp was lost because a videotron was installed there.