Drug addicts and the homeless will be swept off the streets of the Malaysian capital ahead of the upcoming Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit, a top official said today.

"We must rid the city of all negative elements," Mohmad Shaid Mohamad Taufek, Kuala Lumpur mayor said at the re-opening of an old jail which was refurbished at a cost of RM3 million.

Police Chief Norian Mai said Pudu prison, located in the heart of the city, would house up to 1,000 drug addicts and vagrants who would be cleared from the streets ahead of the NAM summit.

Over the last three months, police have arrested 3,760 drug addicts in Kuala Lumpur, he said.

The summit, to be held o­n Feb 20-25 would bring together leaders or their representatives from NAM's 114 member states.

Paint job

Other measures include resurfacing the roads and ordering owners to paint their old buildings.

"Some of the owners are doing it themselves. Some have refused to do it. We will do it for them, but we will bill them," Mohmad Shaid told reporters.

Residents living in flats have been advised not to hang out their laundry as it would be an eyesore, and main streets in the city are being spruced up with plants.

But Mohmad Shaid admitted it was quite difficult to prevent flat-dwellers from hanging their laundry in the open. "I'm o­nly appealing to their sense of aesthetic."

The NAM movement, formed as an alternative to the Western and Soviet blocs during the Cold War, has been seen as increasingly irrelevant since the collapse of the Soviet Union. - AFP