Kajang district police chief ACP Mohamad Noor Hakim Kassim today defended his decision to dispatch 30 officers to the venue of a dialogue between Broga villagers and PAS leaders in Taman Tasik Semenyih last Saturday as a "necessary preventive measure".

The former Bentong district police chief, who was transferred to Kajang last month, said police were expecting 1,000 people to turn up for the dialogue "based on intelligence reports".

"The venue, a shoplot, could not possibly accommodate 1,000 people and the spillover from the premises would have been in violation of the law - a permit is needed for any outdoor public gathering," he explained when contacted today.

Saturday's dialogue was organised by the Semenyih/Broga No Incinerator pro tem action committee comprising Broga villagers and residents in the surrounding areas of Kajang, Semenyih and Lenggeng in Negri Sembilan.

Residents and PAS leaders, surprised by the number of uniformed personnel, had described this as an intimidation tactic designed to discourage people from attending the dialogue.

'Information from DAP'

However, Mohamad Noor Hakim said that his decision was based on information obtained from the DAP.

"It told us there would be 400 people from PAS and 400 from the DAP and that the rest would comprise the public and the press," he said.

"So, it was necessary to position my officers as a preventive measure. Do you think that placing 30 officers in a crowd of 1,000 is enough to prevent any trouble?"

He, however, said he was "happy that the organisers did not violate any laws".

"We will also be present at future meetings... not to interfere in the proceedings but to ensure that no laws are violated," he said, refuting allegations that the police had over-reacted.

"Do you think that I would have rejected a permit application if the organiser had wanted to hold a gathering outdoors? My concern is that laws are complied with, that's all."

The dialogue provided updates on the ongoing protest action against the construction of a multi-billion giant incinerator and to stop a proposed sanitary landfill project. These are scheduled to be built within the Semenyih forest reserve and water catchment area.