who gets to pluck the fruit in your hdb estate?

instead of ornamental trees or trees that provide shade, some housing and development board estates are populated by fruit trees like rambutan, mango, buah belimbing and guava. in keeping with the farming landscape image, the sides of the roads in lim chu kang, seletar, pasir ris, mandai and sungei tengah are also planted with fruit trees.

but who harvest the ripe fruits? today i called up the town council to find out and was directed to someone in the maintenance department. i asked if residents were allowed to pluck the rambutans on the trees in my estate. the reply: only members of the residents' committee are authorised to do it.

it is not worth the effort of the rc members to pluck them because the fruit is not in abundance and they will not be able to gather a presentable amount to distribute to the old folk home or any charitable organisation. may be this is the first year of fruiting and so the produce is a bit meagre. so far, i have yet to see a member of the residents' committee going around to harvest the rambutans.

i made it known to the town council personnel that those people whom i have seen enjoying the fruit of other people's labour did not look like rc members. i have seen a foreign national, who sweeps the car-park, helping himself to the fruit. two days ago, i saw a chinese couple eating the fruit from the same tree. and today i saw two deliverymen doing the same.

along the roadsides at lim chu kang, i have seen branches of the mangosteen trees damaged by person or persons who had been trying to get at the fruit. and there are those who unknowingly pluck the unripe ones and take them home, hoping that they will ripen over time.

with no residents' committee in such area like lim chu kang, who is authorised to pluck the fruit?