Number of Qualified Arborists in Singapore

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for National Development (a) currently, how many qualified arborists are there in Singapore; (b) of this number, how many are under the employment of NParks; and (c) whether the Ministry regards this number to be sufficient.

Mr Lawrence Wong: There are 500 qualified arborists in Singapore today. Two hundred are employed by the National Parks Board (NParks) to oversee its tree management programme. The pool of 200 NParks arborists is adequate for now. The Ministry of National Development (MND) and NParks are continually reviewing our resources to ensure that there are sufficient arborists to handle the work requirements.