(Sept 15): Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has slapped the Bersih 4 organisers with a RM61,840 bill for operations costs and damage to property.

Deputy Federal Territories Minister Datuk Loga Bala Mohan said that City Hall would take legal action if the bill was not paid.

“We will begin legal proceedings at the end month if they (Bersih 4) fail to pay for damages and operations costs incurred by City Hall for the rally,” he said after City Hall Enforcement Day, this morning, at Tasik Titiwangsa.

DBKL is claiming damages of RM15,840 for overtime pay, RM5,000 for food and drink, RM5,000 for transport, RM11,000 for damages to street furniture and RM25,000 for damage to the landscape around Dataran Merdeka.

Loga said that from August 13 to 31, DBKL enforcement officers removed 231 stickers, bunting and banners on pedestrian bridges and other structures in connection with the rally.

“City Hall also deployed 677 enforcement officers on three shifts to monitor the area during Bersih 4.

“Their duties included erecting water barriers, gates and assisting other government agencies.”

However, Loga said that the “Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu” or 'red shirt' rally tomorrow had been given permission to use Padang Merbok.

“The organisers had applied for a venue and we gave them Padang Merbok, unlike Bersih 4 organisers who refused Stadium Titiwangsa when it was offered to them.”

It was reported that 'red shirt' rally is to counter last month’s Bersih 4 rally, which had called for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s resignation over alleged financial scandals.

The gathering is also being held to express anger over footage of Bersih 4 participants stomping on pictures of Najib and PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.

The rally’s organisers claim it is not a racist get-together, but critics have pointed out that they are using slogans such as “kebangkitan maruah Melayu” (rise of Malay honour), which have communal sentiments.

Police had earlier declared the rally illegal and said that it would not allow the gathering go ahead because organisers had previously planned to gather on Jalan Bukit Bintang. – The Malaysian Insider