After agreeing to halt the felling of 6,700 trees in urban areas in Hanoi following public outrage, city authorities have not confirmed if it is a delay or if they have canceled the plan.

Nguyen The Thao, chairman of the People’s Committee of Hanoi, ordered the halt of the plan yesterday after some 500 trees had been chopped down, stirring up protests from the public.

Earlier, Hanoi authorities had decided to fell the trees with decayed or curved trunks and branches to ensure the safety and beauty of the city, and will replace them with new trees right after that.

Nguyen Quoc Hung, deputy chairman of the People’s Committee of Hanoi, presided a conference yesterday about the felling of the trees but he failed to answer questions from the media, such as the environmental impact, the landscape, and any survey on the quality of the 6,700 trees.

In a talk with Tuoi Tre, Hung said Hanoi authorities have yet to decide if the plan is delayed is canceled.

“In the short term, we will halt chopping them down at the instruction of the city’s leader,” Hung said, adding that he will require the Hanoi Department of Construction to reply to questions from the media.