Malaysia Politic(3): Policemen part II

05-12-2010: Tear Gas, 
Water Cannons Unleashed, 48 Arrested

KUALA LUMPUR: 

Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim had on Sunday, Dec 5 handed over a memorandum to the Istana Negara seeking the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin’s intervention over the  restructuring the Selangor water supply industry. The memorandum was handed over to the Istana Negara Press Officer Khairi Abdul Rahman at the palace grounds at about 2.15pm. The Menteri Besar was accompanied by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali, Selangor DAP chairman Teresa Kok, a member of the PAS central committee Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad and the PAS Member of Parliament for Shah Alam Khalid Samad. When met by reporters later, Abdul Khalid said among the contents of the memorandum was to request the King to order the rights over water resources, now handled by Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas), to be returned to the Selangor state government. "I will make the offer document for the purchase worth more than RM6 billion to the concession companies managing the water resources," he said. In addition, the memorandum also requested Tuanku Mizan to review the objectives of the Water Services Industry Act 2006 to understand the need to restructure the industry in a holistic manner. Earlier, 4,350 PAS members, undergraduates from the Klang Valley and the Selangor Anti-Irregularities Federation (GAPS) gathered without a permit at the National Mosque and Stadium Negara before marching simultaneously towards Istana Negara. However, police personnel including from the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) and the traffic police managed to block their movement resulting in only some of them managing to proceed to the Istana Negara. The gathering at the National Mosque began at about 12 noon before they were dispersed by police about four hours later after firing tear gas and water canons. There were several people who acted violently against the policemen when attempting to break through the police cordon. 
- Bernama -

 

:- As a last resort to the protracted struggle for control over the management of water in Selangor, Pakatan Rakyat today organised a rally at the Masjid Negara in Kuala Lumpur where they were planning to march to the Istana Negara to submit a memorandum on the matter to the king.

:- By early afternoon, about 7,000 were gathered at the Masjid Negara in a sea of red shirts that flooded its compound. Meanwhile, battalions of plaincloth and blue-uniformed police officers as well as Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) riot personnel took their positions along the route from Masjid Negara to the royal palace and in no time sprang into action. 

:- 11.30am: The police are taking no chances and have set up roadblocks and sent out patrols specifically to clamp down on the gathering at the National Palace organised by the Pakatan Rakyat-led government to submit a memorandum to the ruler Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin.

:- The demonstration on Selangor water tariffs that started from the Masjid Negara this afternoon saw at least 48 people arrested.
:- According to Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin, 32 were loaded into the first police truck and 15 in the second.