Sixty-four DAP members of Kampung Lembah Kinrara, Puchong Jaya, Puchong today declared that they had quit the party and joined Umno.

Their representative, Harun Abdul Waha, who is also DAP chairman in the area, said DAP was only capable of making empty promises to develop the area.

"For as long as I've been DAP chairman of Kampung Lembah Kinrara, we have never received funds or projects. I am willing to leave the party and fight for the interests of the Malays," he said.

He said this after submitting his membership form to Umno Information Chief Ahmad Maslan, who is also Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, at Umno's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.

The members involved are Malays who joined the party in 2009.

Harun said all the projects requested by residents in the area had to go through Puchong MP, Gobind Singh Deo ( right ).

"He (Gobind) won the hearts of residents by giving out contributions for Hari Raya and such. However, there are no funds for projects," he said, admitting that most of the development projects there were from Umno.

He added that when a problem arose in the village, the DAP kept quiet and did nothing to resolve the woes of villagers.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Maslan described Harun's move as wise and hoped other Malay members in DAP would follow suit.

"We appreciate their move to join Umno because the fight for the Malays can only be solved by Umno and BN. DAP cannot fight for the rights of the Malays," he said.

In another development, Ahmad Maslan said the Umno Information Office will hold meetings each Tuesday and Thursday with non-governmental organisations (NGO) nationwide to strengthen the party's ties with them.

"These meetings will be held at our office and will become a weekly programme," he said.

- Bernama