KUALA LUMPUR – Police have denied claims of road closures and disruptions to train services due to the Save Malaysia rally scheduled to take place tomorrow.
Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Allaudeen Abdul Majid dismissed allegations that police are planning to set up roadblocks in the city centre or issue orders to suspend LRT, MRT and monorail services.
“There won’t be any roadblocks within KL. No trains will be shut down either; they will function as normal,” he said when contacted by Scoop.
Allaudeen was asked for comments on a recent viral message on WhatsApp, which claimed that train services will be closed as advised by Bukit Aman, subject to direction from the Transport Ministry as well as the Land Public Transport Agency.
The message, alleged to be a directive from “authorities” to transport service providers, also asserted that organisers of the Keretapi Sarong event will be told to “reschedule their activities.”
A separate message posing as information from the Save Malaysia rally organisers said that roads heading into the city centre will be blocked and that trains will not stop at certain stations.
“We (police) also know about the Keretapi Sarong event (where participants) will gather at Dataran Merdeka. There will be no disruption to train services, don’t worry,” Allaudeen said when told of the message.
“Depending on the situation at the rally tomorrow, we will assess if there is a necessity to close roads. But, for now, there are no plans to set up roadblocks,” he added.
He also said that the lack of proper notice from the rally organisers has presented difficulties to police in conducting their duties, noting that the public will also be troubled if any untoward incidents take place.
“This is why it’s important (for assembly organisers) to submit notices with the exact location on where they want to do their gathering so that police can assist (such events).
“Our function is to facilitate (gatherings), but we can only do that when we have sufficient information. First, they (rally organisers) said that they’ll be gathering at Sogo, then it was changed to Bukit Bintang, and now it’s at Kg Baru.”
Previously, it was reported that the rally, believed to be mainly organised by Perikatan Nasional Youth, will take place at Masjid Kg Baru here, with the movement calling on citizens to assemble in large numbers for the afternoon Zohor prayers.
The movement is calling for charges to be brought against Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi once more, after the deputy prime minister had received a conditional discharge from his corruption trial last week.
Additionally, the movement is calling for the attorney-general and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to be “freed from executive powers”, while its third demand is for “fair laws for all citizens”.
During a press conference at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters last night, Bukit Aman’s criminal investigation department director, Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain, said that police had rejected an application to hold the rally.
It was understood that the organisers had left out pertinent details in their submission, including the location of the rally and the names of its organisers. – September 15, 2023