Teng: Klang council to decide on fate of German F&B fest

Now that the police have officially stated their objections to the "German F&B Festival" event in Klang, a final decision on whether it can proceed lies with the local authorities, said Selangor senior exco member Teng Chang Khim.

Teng said the North Klang district police had written to the Klang Municipal Council (MPK) on Oct 2, but the final decision lies with the MPK, and the state government will not interfere.

He said that were he the president of MPK, he would let the event proceed as planned because the council was not legally obliged to seek a green light from the police.

However, he said MPK does have to take safety issues into consideration after organisers failed to have the event greenlit by the police.

"We have administrative procedures. We would ask the police for their opinions. So the mayor would have to consider whether the police will support the event.

"We are unable to provide the level of security that the police is capable of. This is their jurisdiction. If they refuse to take on this responsibility, then it is difficult for the organisers to ensure the same level of security," Teng told a press conference today.

He said the Selangor government will not intervene in the administration of local authorities as long as rules and regulations are complied with.

Several days ago, MPK president Mohamad Yasin Bidin said he was perplexed as to why the police were unwilling to greenlight the event – which involves non-halal food without alcohol – that is slated to be held on Oct 12 and 13 at Centro Mall.

Mohamad Yasin said as long as the police do not give the green light, the event cannot proceed.

Do NGOs have special rights?

Meanwhile, Teng said he could not accept the objections given by the police over the event.

For instance, he said "bantahan masyarakat/NGO" (complaints from society/NGO) was not a valid excuse, because it would be impossible to secure unanimous agreement on anything in a democracy.

He said everyone in this country had basic rights and it was the duty of the police to uphold everyone's rights as long as no laws were broken.

"Why dance to the tune of a small group? Do NGOs have some special rights whereby all their protests must be accepted?

"In Klang, there are hundreds of non-Muslim NGOs. Did the police talk to them?" asked Teng.

He also could not accept the police's explanation that the event was a target for attacks by militants, because the police should have gone after the said militants.

In view of this, he said that the police had displayed unprofessional behaviour and that the inspector-general of police should feel embarrassed.- Mkini