The police have erected roadblocks along major thoroughfares in the Klang Valley, causing massive peak-hour traffic jams in an apparent effort to foil the Bersih rally planned for Saturday.

bersih parliament police road block bangsar 111207 close Among the key roads affected are those in Subang Jaya near Segi College, Sunway Pyramid and Subang Parade; the Federal Highway; Lebuhraya Damansara Puchong; and the KL-Seremban highway in Seri Kembangan.

The Star , meanwhile, reported Selangor police chief Tun Hisan Tun Hamzah as saying the roadblocks were set up this morning in order to prevent “undesirable elements from smuggling weapons” into the city.

Tun Hisan apologised for the inconvenience caused, but said the move was necessary, citing the purported seizure two days ago of Molotov cocktails, parang and firecrackers in Gombak, Selangor and three locations in Kuala Lumpur.

The police said they believe the items were meant to be used during Saturday's rally by the Bersih 2.0 coalition.

“Our action is preventive. We have a duty to protect the people and ensure public order and security remains peaceful at all times.

NONE “We hope the public will bear and assist us as we do not wish to cause or pose any problem to the public. It's just that we have a job to do and we have to do it,” he said.

DCP Tun Hisan ( right ) said police would not let up in their investigations following the seizure of the weapons as they believe there could be groups out to cause trouble although Bersih 2.0 had called off the street demonstrations.

When contacted, Tun Hisan also said that on top of weapons, the police are also looking for Bersih T-shirts among motorists.

Day's plans gone awry

Motorists have vented their anger over the roadblocks, which have caused many to be late for work. 

Some in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur have poured their frustration out in Twitter. Here are some of their tweets:

@syazwinasaw: All ways out of Subang have been blocked by police trying to create havoc aftr last nite's FRU showdown at a ceramah.

@saimatkong: OMG jam is everywhere & U will be late today! There's roadblock everywhere! One after toll towards Sunway. Use other roads...

@Wwyda: NO WONDER. Roadblocks during rush hour, really? Roadblocks in and out USJ, in front of summit. Only 1 lane in use.

@SookLee17: Are they out of their mind? Having road block at Sunway toll at this hour!

@morticya33: Haiya, patutla jam, police blocking the exit of Subang to Fed Highway from 3 lanes to 2 kltraffic

@cottonkyandyi: Can someone tell me what's happening? Kinrara - bkt jalil; unusual jam!

@amptraffic kltu 0802: BESRAYA: crawl frm UPM-Sri Kembangan, roadblock at KM3.6. If u r coming frm SILK, expect delays frm Cheras Jaya.

@twentyplus: Alert, heavy jam at LDP due to Bersih roadblock, malaysia police boleh!

@kltraffic: dear dato @NajibRazak, i believd this rdblock thing is inappropriate n too extreme. my2cents.

Even in Penang

In Penang as well, commuters have complained of road blocks that have turned usually smooth-flowing highway traffic into a crawl.

One caller from the northern state, who identified himself only as ‘Ranjit’, said the highway traffic from the toll at Juru up until Seberang Perai had been reduced to a single line of vehicles moving bumper-to-bumper.

“They’re supposedly checking for Bersih supporters. But how can they when the police are just sitting under their tents as vehicles pass the roadblock they set up!” the irate Penangite told Malaysiakini .

“They’re just making it difficult. It took me almost two hours from Juru to Seberang Perai. All my plans for the first half of the day are messed up,” he added.

Additional reporting by Nigel Aw

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