Thousands of motorists left fuming over roadblocks

Traffic along major highways in Klang Valley reduced to a crawl as police mount numerous roadblocks ahead of Saturday's Bersih rally

PETALING JAYA: Thousands of commuters were left fuming over massive peak-hour traffic jams caused by police roadblocks along major highways around the Klang Valley early this morning.

It is believed that the roadblocks were set up in a bid to thwart the Bersih rally scheduled for Saturday, although one district level police chief denied this.

The street protest was cancelled when Bersih accepted the Yang d-Pertuan Agong’s advice to call it off. It is will now be held at a stadium.

Traffic was reduced to a crawl on many key roads, including the Federal Highway near Subang Parade, Subang Jaya near Segi College, in front of the Summit, the LDP ( Lebuhraya Damansara Puchong) near the Sunway toll, KL-Seremban Highway and the Middle Ring Road II, Puchong heading to the Sungai Besi Highway.

According to traffic updates on radio, roadblocks were reported near the Sunway toll, Giant Kinrara, Besraya Highway, Kajang SILK highway and Cheras South from Jusco towards the Mines.

There were also roadbloacks near USJ Summit at the Subang-Kelana Jaya link, and another near the Persiaran Tujuan interchange to Federal Highway.

Many irate motorists have complained to FMT about this “ridiculous” police action when the Bersih street rally has been put off.

One motorist asked: “Why erect a roadblock in front of Summit? Even on ordinary days, the road is already jammed.”

Another accused the police of causing unnecessary inconvenience by erecting the roadblocks.

“What do they (police) think motorists are up to? Going to some street rally?” he asked. “Imagine from five lanes to a single lane in front of Summit Subang.

“Are the police out to show that they can make lives miserable?

At the roadblock itself, the police officers were not even looking at the cars… they were busy chatting,” he said.

“I have only one thing to say to the police: if you think you are doing a service to the nation by such acts, think again.”

Another motorist asked: “Why all the roadblocks today?

Everbody is just going to work and trying to make ends meet. Please… be considerate”

Roadblocks uncalled for

Meanwhile, Consummer Association of Subang Jaya and Shah Alam (CASSA) president Jacob George said his usual 25-minute trip from Shah Alam to Sunway and back, took him four-hours.

“Today was a major disruption and it was totally unnecessary and uncalled for.

I don’t understand why the authorities have this ‘siege mentallity’,” said George.

He said CASSA received 22 complaints today, including from two doctors who were angry because they could not reach their hospitals in time.

“As far as we understand, all matters with Bersih were resolved.

There was peace and tranquillity when Bersih accepted King’s advice to call off the street rally and hold it indoors.

Bersih was also amenable to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak idea and approved for the rally to be held indoors.

“If the Yang di-Pertuan Agong himself gave consent, who are the police to continue this harassment and undermine the King?” said George.

“Some people are asking me: Is there a parallel government working and giving the police instructions? This is rude.”

George said things like this would directly affect voters, who would now swing towards the opposition.

He said that in Johor Baru, a motorist complained that frequent roadblocks have been mounted for the past two weeks and today, there
were roadblocks at the Skudai toll, and Kempas toll heading north.

Motive very obvious

Serdang MP Teo Nie Ching said that she saw two roadblocks while heading to the city from Seri Kembangan, and was swamped with calls this morning.

One of her constituents told her he was stopped three times today when he was heading to college just because he was wearing an ordinary yellow T-shirt.

“The government is contradicting itself. Why is it still harassing the people when the King said the rally can be held in a stadium?

“Are you saying that the King has approved something illegal?” she asked.

“The motive to erect roadblocks is clear. The authorities still want to clampdown on Bersih. It’s terrible to see frequent roadblocks. I don’t buy it if the police say it is just crime prevention,” she said.

In Kuala Lumpus, a City Hall’s Integrated Transport Information System official said that traffic in the city was normal.

Kuala Lumpur traffic chief ACP Rosli Mohd Noor said he was aware of roadblocks being mounted, but was not informed of the details.

Seri Kembangan district police chief ACP Abd Razak Elias denied that roadblocks in his area, covering Seri Kembangan, Puchong and Bukit Jalil, were linked to Bersih.

“We had three roadblocks this morning for normal crime prevention operation. Everyone is mistaken that it is related to Bersih,” he said.

Asked why the roadblocks were held today, Razak said that police had received information relating to break-ins.

“Based on our crime pattern study, house break-ins in my area normally happen between 4am and 12pm,” he said.