Local authorities and JKR have a statutory duty to maintain safety on Federal roads, including the management of wayside trees, to prevent hazards to road users.

Introduction

[1] The plaintiff in this case, En Iqmal Izzuddeen bin Mohd Rosthy was riding his motorcycle on Jalan Rasah on 1 May 2018. He stopped at a traffic light near the junction to the Rasah toll on the North-South Expressway. Without warning, a nearby tree uprooted and fell on the plaintiff. He suffered serious injuries, including multiple fractures to his arms, ribs and jaw. He was just 18 years old at the time of the accident.

[2] The plaintiff sued the defendants in the court below for negligence and breach of statutory duties for their contended failure to (among others) maintain the trees adjacent to the road.

[3] The first and second defendants at the Sessions court were the Mayor and the City Council of Seremban respectively. The third and fourth defendants were the director of the Public Works Department (Jabatan Kerja Raya or JKR) and the department itself. The fifth defendant was government of Malaysia, whom the plaintiff sought to make liable on the principle of vicarious liability. The seventh defendant was a company known as Selia Selenggara Selatan Sdn Bhd, a company that has been awarded by the government of Malaysia with a concession to undertake maintenance of Federal roads in the southern region of the Peninsula. The sixth defendant was its area manager.

[4] After a trial of the action, the Sessions court found the third to seventh defendants liable to the plaintiff, and awarded damages amounting to RM216,949.00.

[5] The sixth and seventh defendants appealed against the finding that they were jointly and severally liable with the third to fifth defendants to the plaintiff.

[6] The third to fifth defendants also appealed against the finding of liability, as well as on the quantum of damages that was awarded to the plaintiffs.

[7] These appeals were heard together. I allow the sixth and seventh defendants' appeal and dismiss the third to fifth defendants' appeal. The reasons are explained below. The parties are referred to in this judgment as they were before the court below.

The Liability Of JKR And The Other Government Defendants

[8] The learned Senior Federal Counsel in this case argued that:

(a) JKR bore no responsibility to maintain trees, and that its responsibility was limited to the proper maintenance of Federal roads. Thus, argued counsel, it was only if trees blocked roads or interfered with road-related infrastructure would there arise a duty on JKR to clear the roads; and

(b) in accordance with s 101(b) of the Local Government Act 1976 , the responsibility for the maintenance of wayside trees lay with the Majlis Perbandaran Seremban (now the Majlis Bandaraya Seremban).

[9] These two points are addressed in reverse order in the following paragraphs.

The Local Government Act 1976

[10] Section 101 of the Local Government Act 1976 provides as follows:

In addition to any other powers conferred upon it by this Act or by any other written law a local authority shall have power to do all or any of the following things, namely:

...

(b) to plant, trim or remove trees;

...

(cc) to require the owner or occupier of any premises to do any of the following acts:

(i) to remove, lower or trim to the satisfaction of the local authority any tree, shrub or hedge overhanging or interfering in any way with the traffic on any road or street or with any wires or works of the local authority or which in th