Andrew Ong
Malaysiakini
It appears that the city is under siege today - thousands of police personnel have been stationed in selective parts of Kuala Lumpur in anticipation of a mass rally scheduled for 3pm.
A 11am check at Dataran Merdeka, the rally venue, revealed the presence of more than 10 police trucks in front of the iconic Sultan Abdul Samad building. Rela personnel were also spotted.
The police sealed off all entrances to the square, but are allowing only tourists to visit the area.
Police checkpoints were dotted along in nearly every alley near the square while police from the General Operations Force (GOF), Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) and other uniformed officers are manning several positions around the area.
Organisers have designated four meeting points - Sogo shopping complex, Masjid Jamek LRT, Pasar Seni and the National Mosque - for participants to converge before proceeding to Dataran Merdeka.
However, a check by Malaysiakini this morning revealed that numerous police trucks were already in position at all four areas.
Traffic within the city however is still smooth with a marked reduction in traffic. Apparently commuters are jammed in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. It was business as usual for most traders and business premises near Dataran Merdeka.
Major highways clogged
Several eyewitnesses also told Malaysiakini that traffic along the Federal Highway had been brought to a snarl due to at least four police checkpoints.
Each roadblock reduced the traffic to only one lane. It is believed that the police are turning back all buses and vans carrying suspected rally participants. A similar checkpoint was mounted along the Sprint Highway near Section 17.
Meanwhile, along the North-South Highway, a Malaysiakini reader reported a three to four kilometres jam at the Sungai Besi toll booth in both directions.
While being caught in the jam, the reader witnessed several cars being forced to turn back away from Kuala Lumpur.
Several eyewitnesses also reported unusual police checkpoints as far away as the entrance to the North-South Highway as far south as in Senai, Johor and in Sungai Buloh, north of Kuala Lumpur.
The Sungai Buloh to Jalan Duta stretch of the North-South Highway heading towards Kuala Limpur has been completely closed and traffic is being diverted to Kota Damansara and Damansara toll exits.
“They seem very hardworking today. Roadblocks are also seen along the North-South Highway near Tangkak (Johor), but it’s raining and they are resting under a shelter,” an the eyewitness.
