Govt's Decision On Access Road Not Due To Opposition Pressure, Says Najib. Oh Really?

The federal government's decision for the disputed Bandar Mahkota Cheras toll-free access road to the Cheras-Kajang Highway to be kept open was not prompted by pressure from opposition political parties, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Saturday.

The decision was made because the federal government was sensitive to the wishes of the people in the locality, he said.

"All this is the work of the Opposition which wants to politicise the issue," he told reporters when asked to comment on yesterday's Cabinet decision for the access road to be kept open until the issue between highway concessionaire Grand Saga Sdn Bhd and Bandar Mahkota Cheras developer Narajaya Sdn Bhd was settled in court.

Works Minister Datuk Mohd Zin Mohamed had announced yesterday that the Cabinet decided to allow the Bandar Mahkota Cheras residents to continue using the access road and disallow barriers to be rebuilt across the road.

Najib spoke to reporters after attending the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) at the Subang RMAF base near here.

He said the government would not give in to any quarters attempting to create chaos. "If there is chaos, the culprits will be prosecuted. The government will not take this lightly," he said.

The residents of Bandar Mahkota Cheras had protested the erecting of barriers across the access road by Grand Saga and had torn down the barriers each time they were put up.

Matters took a turn for the worse last Tuesday when several men alleged to be gangsters assaulted some of the residents as they were tearing down the barriers, resulting in several people -- one of them a newspaper photographer -- being injured.

On another matter, Najib said it was the desire of the government to buy new multirole combat aircraft in the future. "But that is just a proposal. We have to consider our capability and priority, including in terms of financial allocation," he said.

Najib, who is the Defence Minister, said if necessary the new aircraft would be bought in stages. (Bernama)

***** If the federal government was genuinely 'sensitive to the wishes of the people' why the hell did the Cabinet wait this long before deciding to open the access road? Why were the police and FRU allowed to assault protesting citizens and how were hired thugs permitted to beat up these folks while the cops stood by and watched?

It looks like the government sprang into action only after the Selangor MB came to the area and supported the people's grievances.

As for Najib saying that it was the 'desire of the government' to buy new multirole combat aircraft in the future, well .....