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Massive traffic jams leading into the city
| It is a bumper-to-bumper crawl on the Kuala Lumpur-Seremban Highway leading into the city. (Inset) Policemen manning a roadblock on the highway yesterday. |
KUALA LUMPUR: Traffic congestion has already started in the city as police mounted roadblocks in connection with the planned gathering on Sunday.
The roadblocks which began yesterday morning are expected to last till Sunday. Among the affected roads are Jalan Ampang, areas in Cheras, Salak Selatan, the Sungai Besi toll plaza, Seremban toll plaza, Jalan Kuching, Jalan Rawang, Gombak, the Karak toll plaza, Brickfields and surrounding areas.
Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Zulhasnan Najib Baharuddin said police were on alert for any untoward incidents.
The gathering in front of the British High Commission is organised by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf).
Police have rejected the application for a permit to hold the gathering and if it goes on, it would be deemed an illegal gathering. The reason given for the rejection was that the gathering would disrupt public order.
Zulhasnan urged the public not to enter Kuala Lumpur during the weekend if they do not have any urgent matters to attend to. "This is to prevent motorists from being caught in the congestion."
The traffic situation yesterday evening was bad at many main roads leading into the city. The areas affected were Sungai Besi, Federal Highway, the Middle Ring Road II, Cheras, Damansara and the Kuala Lumpur-Seremban Highway.
The Star
Klang Valley chokes up
By ANDREW SAGAYAM
KUALA LUMPUR: Round-the-clock roadblocks have been set up in the Klang Valley as part of crime-prevention activities in the lead up to the illegal assembly called by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) in the city this Sunday. The roadblock operations, which started yesterday, were to screen motorists entering the city centre and to identify troublemakers ahead of the planned mass gathering of Indians outside the British High Commission in Jalan Ampang. Police said suspicious motorists would be inspected and their vehicles searched.
The public is advised to stay away from the gathering and police will not hesitate to take stern action against those who refuse to take heed of the warning. “We have received information that there will be criminal activities taking place right up to Sunday’s gathering. From our intelligence gathering, we found that riots and fights had been planned. We are now taking precautionary measures,” said city police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Zul Hasnan Najib Baharudin.
He said the roadblocks had been set up at all entry points into the city centre. “We will continue the operations until further notice,” he said.
DSP Zul Hasnan said Cheras police had rejected Hindraf’s application for a permit to hold the gathering.
At least 20,000 people are expected to take part in Sunday’s gathering and the protestors had been told to dress in orange. The assembly is to submit a petition with 100,000 signatures to Queen Elizabeth II to appoint a Queen’s Counsel to represent the Indian community in a class action suit against the British government for bringing Indians as labourers to the then Malaya and exploiting them. The suit, filed at the Royal Courts of Justice in London by Hindraf chief P. Wathyamoorthy in August, seeks compensation of up to US$4tril (RM13.5tril), or US$1mil (RM3.4mil) for every Indian in Malaysia.
In Malacca, Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan said police had rejected the application for a permit for the Hindraf gathering because “undesirable elements” would be used to disrupt the assembly, STEVEN DANIEL reports. “I urge the public not to attend this gathering. We will take stern action against anyone who breaks the law,” he said. He also warned groups not to bring their children to such rallies as this could endanger the lives of the young ones. “Stern action can be taken against those who put their kids at risk,” he said.
For the latest details &
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Go H E R E
Why don’t the police find something useful to do like track down Nurin Jazlin’s killer??
I passed 3 roadblocks on my way to work and the police weren’t even paying attention to the cars – they were bored.
And what were they looking for? Weapons? If you were bringing in weapons to start a riot, would you do it last minute?? Heck, that would have been carried out a month ago!
And as for checking car boots, how stupid can anyone get? If I was carrying a gun, I’d hide it under my car seat or somewhere difficult to access. What are they going to do, strip the entire car?
The communist-dictatorship government is just so obviously trying to piss off the public and direct the anger to HINDRAF.
Judging by the people I’ve talked to and the blogs I’ve read, it’s obvious that Malaysians aren’t as stupid as the government thinks it is.
If there is a civil unrest because of demonstrations and stuff, it’s the communist-dictatorship government that takes a bow, not the citizens.