A Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) leader today rapped the government's move to have more housing at the Petaling Selatan squatter settlement only after clashes had occurred there and not before when the poverty-stricken area needed it most.

"This is not a racial problem. This is a very real social problem we have, not to be dealt with on an ad-hoc basis," said PRM's organisational secretary Jonson Chong.

"Why wait until now? Why wait until there are deaths and then you deal with it? The community has been marginalised for years," he added.

Chong said this after presenting gift hampers to victims injured in the clashes warded at the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) this morning.

Malaysiakini reported yesterday that Housing and Local Government Minister Ong Ka Ting said his ministry would provide more houses for residents at the squatter settlement. He, however, did not say when the programme would be launched.

Earlier, BA youth wing heads Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor from Keadilan and Mahfuz Omar from PAS joined Chong and a representative from DAP in handing over the gift hampers.

Confrontational

Asked to comment on the police report lodged against PAS, Keadilan and malaysiakini by Selangor Police Chief Nik Ismail Nik Yusoff, Ezam said he "regretted" the action.

"The police should have taken pro-active steps to meet with the leaders of Barisan Alternatif to get a true picture and not be confrontational. We are national leaders, therefore we have the right to a clear perspective," he said.

Nik Ismail yesterday said he has lodged a police report against malaysiakini and two opposition parties for claiming that the death toll of the clashes in Petaling Selatan area was higher than the figure given by the police.

According to the national news agency Bernama , Nik Ismail told a news conference that malaysiakini , PAS and Keadilan "must prove their claim".

Meanwhile, Mahfuz reiterated his party's call for national unity talks rather than just Malay unity talks.

"In our view, the clashes would not have happened if it was ingrained in Malaysian society the concept of national unity rather than unity based on racial sentiments.

"PAS has always stressed the importance of national unity and in our discussion with Umno we rejected the narrow racial approach taken by them and asked for talks on national unity," he said.

Metal brace

The neighbourhood where the skirmishes occurred - which include Taman Datuk Harun, Kampung Lindungan, Kampung Medan, Taman Medan, Kampung Penaga, Kampung Ghandi and Kampung Muniandy - is populated by Malays, Indians, and Indonesian and Bangladeshi migrants, and comprises longhouses, low-cost flats, terrace houses and wooden squatter houses.

The majority of the residents are from the lower income group, most being factory workers, mechanics and small-time businessmen.

To date, police said that six have died, more than 40 injured and 224 arrested in the clashes which began on March 9.

Hospital officials told reporters that the total number of victims still warded at the hospital numbered 24.

During their hour-and-a-half visit, the Youth leaders comforted the victims who suffered wounds of varying severity.

One middle-aged man had a slash across his forehead requiring numerous stitches. Another required a metal brace on his shin. A middle-aged man had a slash wound across his back and a bloodshot left eye.

The wife of another victim lamented the fact that her husband was the sole breadwinner of the family and that his injuries would impair his ability to work.