The continued tussle between the current Perak government and its predecessor on access to the State Secretariat is rebounding badly on a public denied entry into its premises.

NONE The Barisan Nasional administration moved two weeks ago to lock out ousted Pakatan Rakyat assembly speaker V.Sivakumar and its Rights and Privileges Committee from the State Secretariat to conduct inquiries into alleged misconduct of BN personnel.

Whenever the BN state government gets a notice of inquiry from Sivakumar's committee addressed to any of their members, it turns into a nervous nelly and assigns guard duty to policemen at the locked front and back gates.

This cat and mouse political game between BN and Pakatan has caused great hardship and inconvenience to those who need redress for their grievances.

The security personnel at the state secretariat normally lock-up the two front gates at about 8.30am once the state government employees have reported for work.

Those who need help are directed to the back here all visitors have to go undergo stringent security checks before being allowed in.

Pro remains unbending

An incident that highlighted this issue happened on Tuesday witnessed by reporters when Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) committee member R Mohana Rani led First Garden low cost- flats' committee of 10 members to meet Mentri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir.

NONE Their aim was to urge the state government to take over their flats management corporation.

While Rani and four of the committee members were allowed in at about 10am, the others were refused entry.

A female public relations officer (PRO) came down from the building and told them that the gates would remain locked for security reasons following orders given two weeks ago.

Rani pleaded that the others be allowed to accompany her to meet Zambry but was told that he had gone for the weekly state executive meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

"Let all of us to come in and at least meet Zambry's official and get acknowledgment for our appeal letter," she said.

10-year problem tests patience

However, the PRO stood firm, saying that they could be held responsible if anything untoward happened within the premises.

"We've received a directive to maintain high security for two weeks,".

To this Rani retorted "We are not criminals but have been facing housing problems for 10 years- we are not politically inclined. How can you deny entry for the public into a government building to air our grouses. The BN state government is not people-friendly."

r ganesan 130509 Finally, the PRO agreed only to hand over the appeal letter to the Mentri Besar's office .

Around 11am the BN appointed speaker R. Ganesan ( left ), on his way to attend a funeral, called Malaysiakini inquiring about the commotion in front of the Secretariat.

When told the reason, he promised to telephone the state secretary to get the gates opened for the complainents.

Ganesan blamed the situation on the Sivakumar for causing constant disruptions with his committee inquiries to gain political mileage.

"I urge them to stop hindering us in our services to the public and instead go and attend to the problems of their respective state constituencies."

The gates did not open as promised by Ganesan and Rani with committee left in high dudgeon after a 30 minute-wait.