Lim Kit Siang

“All we want is just that road”

DAP MP for Serdang, Teo Nie Ching failed in her attempt this morning to adjourn Parliament to debate as a definite matter of urgent public importance “the thug and police violence” against residents of Bandar Makhota Cheras (BMC) following the rebuilding of the barricade by the toll concessionaire, Grand Saga.

I spoke briefly at the gathering of BMC residents outside Parliament House this morning, where a long-standing BMC resident, “Mas”, recounted how she fractured her left arm during the “rampage” by thugs on Tuesday night when she and her two young children merely wanted to show support and solidarity for the cause to open the road for public use. (See YouTube)

Another group of BMC residents, together with DAP MPs including Nie Ching, Fong Kui Lun M. Kulasegaran and Lim Lip Eng (also present were Selangor State Exco members Ronnie Liu and Ean Yong Hian Wah) held a media conference at the Parliament lobby to condemn the violence perpetrated against the defenceless public, including press representatives as three were assaulted by the “samsengs” in the Tuesday night rampage.

This outrage must be placed on the agenda of the Cabinet meeting tomorrow for it raises the question whether the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, has the political will to deliver his various promises of reform, whether judiciary, the battle against corruption or the police.

Was the Royal Police Commission, which was established when Abdullah first became Prime Minister more than four years ago, a complete waste of time and money when its recommendation to create an efficient, incorruptible and professional world-class police service proves to be such a mirage as highlighted by the “thug and police violence” at the BMC on Tuesday?