58 roads to be closed in KL today
KUALA LUMPUR: Police will close 58 roads in 10 areas in the federal capital starting 7am today due to the rallies that will be held in the city centre.
City police chief Datuk Amar Singh yesterday said this was to prevent clashes between the groups with differing ideologies that were expected to assemble for the rallies.
The areas that will be no-entry zones are: Dataran Maybank in Bangsar, Little India in Brickfields, Masjid Negara, Muzium Negara, Sogo, Dataran Merdeka, Parliament, Bank Negara Malaysia, Jalan Pudu, the Putra World Trade Centre and Jalan Chow Kit.
Essential areas, such as Kuala Lumpur Hospital and the National Heart Institute, will not be affected.
Amar said apart from Bersih and Red Shirts supporters, police were also expecting the presence of two more groups, the White Shirts and Black Shirts, who were expected to demonstrate at the same time and place.
However, he declined to elaborate on the identities of the two groups.
Police, said Amar, had advised rally organisers to conduct gatherings in appropriate places for which they could get approvals from the landlords, as required under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012.
“Until today, they could not propose appropriate locations. So, automatically, these rallies, which did not meet requirements under the act, contravene the law.”
Amar said road closures and detours were being done to ensure that traffic was kept under control, given that some rally participants would be driving.
“Given that four groups with different ideologies are set to gather at the same time and place, there is a high possibility that there will be altercations.
“Police have advised all groups not to conduct the rallies. However, they want to continue,” he said.
Amar advised the public not to join the rallies.
Police, he said, would not hesitate to act against groups that create chaos in the city centre.
He said police would be deploying enough manpower today to ensure peace and public order.
Meanwhile, police have issued a strict “no drones” directive for the rallies.
Amar said only those who had explicit permission from the authorities would be allowed to fly the devices in the city centre today.
“People who wanted to use drones would have to get approval from the Civil Aviation Department,” he said.
In Batu Pahat, Special Affairs Department director-general Datuk Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi yesterday hit out at Bersih 5 organisers, saying the rally was “more towards stirring the people’s emotions against the government” instead of seeking electoral reforms.
Bernama reported Puad as saying that the rally was intended to topple the government through demonstrations.
“It is not clear what Bersih is struggling for. It is using the excuse of demanding electoral reforms,” he said after launching the “Jasa Sepakat” programme at Kampung Sri Merlong in Rengit on Thursday night.
He said the people were wise not to believe the news circulated on social media and this forced the opposition to resort to demonstrations and talks to stir the people’s emotions.