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This was announced by Municipal Construction Department's Deputy Director Vo Nguyen Phong at a briefing of the Ha Noi Party Committee yesterday.

The latest scandal relating to a tree replacement plan in the city came to light after a historic storm raged through the city last weekend, uprooting thousands of trees.

Several newly planted trees were part of the tree replacement plan that was carried out in March. The plan was aimed at felling 6,700 old urban trees and replacing them with new and young ones. However, the plan had to be halted shortly due to public pressure.

Later, a severe storm on Saturday uprooted many of the new trees, revealing their roots that were completely wrapped in nylon sheets.

The disclosure triggered an instant uproar on the Internet, with many netizens questioning the illogical ways of the authorities in planting trees that might prevent their roots from growing into the soil and putting the lives of young trees at stake. They also questioned the dedication of Ha Noi Park and Green Tree Company, which is in charge of the tree planting work.

Phong noted that a thorough inspection and assessment by experts are needed to decide whether nylon wrappings can affect the growth of trees.

"We need time to examine all of the trees. The result will be publicised as and when it is available," Phong added.

Despite a recent plan to trim rotten trees in preparation for storms, numerous unattended large trees toppled in the weekend storm, and they were found rotten inside.

The Deputy Director argued that the failure in detecting rotten trees was due to the old-fashioned visual inspection employed by the company in charge.

"The workers of Ha Noi Park and Green Tree Company can only observe the exterior of trees, while the interior status of trees must be assessed by experts," he stressed.

Regarding the relief work that was taken up following the storm that killed two people and injured seven, Phong informed that the work was "basically finished."

Most of the fallen trees and electricity poles were removed by yesterday evening.

Saturday's storm, the strongest to hit Ha Noi in 30 years, devastated the city in historic scale. More than 1,300 trees reportedly fell, the roofs of hundreds of houses were blown off, and 25 cars and several motorbikes were damaged in the disaster.