Correct, correct, correct. Not penyangaks, not HINDRAF supporters, not BERSIH people, not lawyers, but residents, like you and me!!!
At first, I did not really take interest in this story. But the interest picked up when the residents and Grand Saga ding-donged with the barriers. One puts up, the other removes.
Its a simple solution, but you can only laugh at the delays and inefficiencies of the parties involved. If these guys can’t even determine the ownership and status of a piece of land, might as well go and hang themselves. The road belongs to who? States says it belongs to them. Grand Saga says need to close road to for safety reasons. Residents say can put traffic light to improve safety, instead of closing the road. As always, follow the money trail. Who benefits if the road is closed, and who benefits if the road is opened? Don’t ever think for a moment that the reason is related to “safety issues”. There’s always options to implement a safety solution.
The residents may be angry, but they should have used proper channels. Ah…maybe they are fed up since the channels don’t work properly?
How can the police be involved? Is there a court order to erect the barrier? If there is, then the residents have to be patient until the injunction is processed.
The highway toll operator also seems to be extremely fast and efficient in putting up barriers. Only monetary gains can cause such efficiency. Are they efficient in other areas as well?
The authorities should not be dragging the release of the relevant reports. It will only fuel speculation that corruption and nepotism is showing its hand. People on the street will be thinking “surely some politician is involved” and pity the residents. From political parties view, like this how to win votes from Cheras folks?
MCA very quiet?
Police fire tear gas at Cheras residents
Andrew Ong & Syed Jaymal Zahiid | May 8, 08 11.35pm (updated)
http://malaysiakini.com/news/82517
It appears that no end is in sight in the stand-off between the determined Bandar Mahkota Cheras (BMC) residents and an equally determined toll operator Grand Saga Sdn Bhd.
Police fired tear gas at about 11pm today to disperse 500 residents who had tried to dismantle a new concrete barrier erected by Grand Saga across a toll-free road near the township.
The crowd was attempting to demolish by hand the partly-completed barricades of made-shift steel cables.
About 50 riot police fired at least three rounds of tear gas – each time unleashing about 10 canisters – after water cannons failed to disperse the residents.
During the stand-off, BMC committee chairperson Tan Boon Hwa was arrested by the police. Two others were also arrested earlier this evening.
According to eyewitnesses, Tan and Segambut member of parliament Lim Lip Eng – who had joined the protestors – were both roughed up by the police during the fracas.
The crowd eventually dispersed by 11.30pm and Grand Saga workers returned under heavy police presence to resume their task to completing the barricades.
The tear gas and water cannon marked the end of yet another ugly day in the face-off between the residents and Grand Saga.
Late last night, just hours after concrete barricades were re-erected by Grand Saga, angry residents had dismantled them for the second time. However, at 5pm today workers from Grand Saga arrived at the scene backed by a team of 100 riot police to erect the barrier for the third time. The police kept a group of outraged residents at bay as the workers dug trenches across the toll-free road.
Instead of putting in concrete blocks which could be easily dismantled, this time Grand Saga is building a permanent wall using pre-mixed concrete.
Yesterday at 9pm, two residents were arrested when some 1,000 people tried to block the Grand Saga staff from placing the three-feet high concrete barriers on an alternate toll-free road.
Grand Saga was successful in rebuilding the concrete barrier, which forced residents in the area to use its tolled highway. This resulted in commuters having to travel an additional six kilometre and pay Grand Saga 90 sen toll for every trip.
The residents, who first removed the barricades on April 21, have claimed that the land belongs to the developer.
Some 100 policemen, including members of the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU), were present when the barricades were being re-erected yesterday. Also present was Selangor police chief Khalid Abu Bakar. By the time Malaysiakini visited the site at around 10.30pm, the freshly-erected barricades were already removed by the residents and traffic flow was normal.
The residents resolved to remove the concrete slabs following the Pakatan Rakyat-led Selangor government’s declaration that the barriers are an “illegal edifice”. DAP state executive councillor Ronnie Liu, who visited the site this morning, said no matter how many times Grand Saga puts up the barricades, the residents will remove them. “What happened yesterday should not have taken place. The state government via the surveillance services of the Department of Survey and Mapping Malaysia (Jupem) have complete jurisdiction over the road and Grand Saga has no authority to place the barricades there,” he said.
Police should be neutral
Liu said the police should have taken a neutral stand and not be seen as acting on behalf of Grand Saga and the federal government. He also advised residents to exercise restraint and not behave in a provocative manner in response to future actions by Grand Saga. “But Grand Saga and the police must also be mindful of the feelings of the residents here as they have every right to feel upset,” he stressed.
Liu also welcomed the residents’s move to file for a court injunction against Grand Saga. Demands for compensation must be made in court, he said, adding that the injunction will most likely be filed today or tomorrow.
As for the survey report that was supposed to be released by Jupem last week, Liu said that no report has been produced so far and he is upset about this. “But Jupem has done its work nevertheless. They marked the borders which indicate that the road belongs to the state government with red paint only to be removed by some irresponsible people,” he said.
As for the two residents who were arrested yesterday, they are expected to be charged with assaulting police personnel. The men were part of a 1,000-strong crowd attempting to stop Grand Saga workers from rebuilding the concrete barrier last night. The duo are being detained at the Cheras police station.
BMC residents doused and gassed
Andrew Ong | May 9, 08 10:51am
http://malaysiakini.com/news/82572
The tranquil suburb of Bandar Mahkota Cheras (BMC) descended into chaos last night when police doused some 500 residents with water cannons and fired dozens of tear gas canisters into the crowd.
During the melee, Segambut member of parliament Lim Lip Eng and BMC Open Road Committee chairperson Tan Boon Hwa were allegedly assaulted by plainclothes police officers. The incident occurred shortly after Lim arrived at the scene at about 10pm to lend support to the residents who had gathered at the Bandar Tun Hussien Onn intersection of the Kajang-Cheras Highway.
The highway concessionaire Grand Saga Sdn Bhd was in the midst of erecting a concrete barrier – for the third time – aimed at thwarting the BMC residents from entering the intersection and thus bypassing a toll booth on the highway. This resulted in commuters having to travel an additional six kilometres and pay Grand Saga 90 sen toll for every trip.
At the time when Lim came to the area, the police were keeping a close watch on the residents who were gathering around Grand Saga employees working on the concrete barricade. Lim had approached Grand Saga workers and the police to find out who was in charge of the construction work. After failing to get answers, he decided to remove the wires from the machines used by construction workers to weld the steel rods to reinforce the concrete barrier.
‘I was maced, beaten’
Without the welding machines, Grand Saga workers withdrew, prompting residents to surge past riot police cordons and destroying the partly-completed barrier with their bare hands in a matter of minutes. The jubilant crowd later tossed Lim into the air several times but the mood soured seconds later when the riot police issued warnings for the crowd to disperse.
Suddenly some 50 riot police took up attacking positions and there was a brief stand-off with the residents with only what remains of the barrier separating the authorities and the residents. What followed was utter chaos when Lim tried to stop a water cannon truck from advancing by standing in front of the truck. According to Lim, several plainclothes officers forcibly removed him and a melee ensued. “They dragged me aside and sprayed mace on my face. I couldn’t see. Then they punched me and kicked me,” he told reporters about two hours after the incident. His shirt was torn during the scuffle.
Selangor state executive councilor Ean Yong Hian Wah who was also at the scene told reporters that the Lim’s beating only stopped when the police were told he was a parliamentarian.
Beaten in front of reporters
Lim, a trained lawyer, is a well-known figure among the residents as he has been serving as the legal advisor for the BMC Open Road Committee.
Meanwhile, committee chairperson Tan was among the crowd at the time of the fracas. Upon seeing Lim being assaulted, he rushed forward to aid him. For his efforts, Tan too was allegedly assaulted and later arrested. Eyewitnesses claimed that he was punched at least once by a plainclothes officer in full view of a group of reporters and photographers. Tan was bundled away in a police patrol car while a resident drove Lim and Ean Yong to a nearby clinic for medical treatment.
By this time, the police had already fired the water cannon once, but when it failed to break up the crowd, three rounds of tear gas were fired. The crowd eventually dispersed.
When approached by reporters last night, Kajang district deputy police chief Supt Toha Abdullah claimed that he was unaware of the police beatings. He also said that the police had to disperse the crowd because they were “menggangu tugas keselamatan pihak polis” (interfering with police security duties).
In all, three residents and Tan were arrested.
When Kajang district police chief Shakaruddin Che Mood was contacted shortly after midnight, he said that the police had yet to decide what charges would be slapped on the detainees. All four were released on bail early this morning.