Sri Muda residents' chase after S'gor MB ends in frustration

Summary

• Taman Sri Muda residents fail to directly deliver to the Selangor menteri besar a memorandum urging a solution to their persistent flood issues.

• The group of about 40 residents had travelled from Selangor to Ayer Kuning in Perak via a chartered bus.

• A special officer to Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari's political secretary accepts several signed copies of the memorandum.

A long and arduous journey from Selangor to Perak undertaken by Taman Sri Muda residents impacted by recurring floods fell short of expectations after Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari’s no-show.

A chartered bus carrying about 40 residents, mostly elderly individuals, had departed for Perak earlier today to chase down Amirudin, who is on the campaign trail for the Ayer Kuning by-election.

Led by their spokesperson, Umagandhan Krishnan, the group ultimately failed in their objective to hand over a memorandum to Amirudin demanding solutions to the floods plaguing the area for decades now.

Instead, their bus was halted from entering a venue at Kampung Coldmines where Amirudin was scheduled to attend a dinner function as part of BN’s campaign for the Ayer Kuning state seat.

A vehicle believed to be carrying the menteri besar had also driven past the bus while it was parked about 500m away from the event space, which had limited parking spots.

‘You can’t resolve our woes’

Firdaus Shir Mohd, the special officer to Amirudin’s political secretary Saifuddin Shafi Muhammad, eventually made his way over to speak with the residents. 

Umagandhan, however, declined to hand over all 1,300 copies of the memorandum signed by distressed residents. Instead, Firdaus was given only a few copies of the initialled documents. 

“We have travelled a long way to get here, and now we’re holding a discussion by the side of a road,” Umagandhan remarked. 

“I believe that you will escalate this issue to the menteri besar as you have the power to do so, (but) as the special officer to (Amirudin’s) political secretary, you can’t do anything (to solve residents’ woes). 

“That is why we would prefer to hand over the memorandum to (Amirudin) directly,” he explained. 

The group left after spending approximately half an hour in the scorching sun under the watchful eye of security personnel.

No one to receive memo

Before arriving at Kampung Coldmines, the residents had first stopped at the Ayer Kuning assemblyperson’s service centre in Tapah, where they were initially set to hold their press conference.

It was unclear who the group had intended to hand over their memorandum to at that time, as neither BN nor Pakatan Harapan’s operations centre for the by-election was in the area.

After being informed by members of the media on site that there would be nobody at the service centre to receive their memorandum, the residents decided to bring their grievances to Kampung Coldmines after receiving information that Amirudin would be there. 

While notifications on the group’s travels were circulated to the media via Malaysian Indian People’s Party (MIPP) information chief Suthan Mookaiah, he later clarified with Malaysiakini that the Perikatan Nasional component party was not part of the group’s gathering.

Instead, he said MIPP had merely helped the group to identify a location for their press conference. 

‘Why are we labelled racists?’

The spokesperson also took issue with Saifuddin's statement, accusing residents of being chess pieces used by certain quarters to gain political mileage. 

In the statement, Saifuddin also claimed that there are attempts to manipulate racial sentiments to incite tensions, highlighting that the Selangor government remains committed to achieving solutions through coordinated action, not “cheap provocations”.

“It is also irresponsible to mobilise a small group of residents - mostly from one ethnic group - to stage a protest in another state,” Saifuddin said. 

Lambasting the aide for unnecessarily viewing the matter from a racial perspective, Umagandhan stressed that the gathering today was not backed by any political parties.

“We came all the way here with hopes that (Amirudin) would listen to us (as) we don’t believe that (the flooding issues) can be solved by an assemblyperson or council members. 

“We’re trying to ask the higher-ups on the executive level to help us (by) taking over the job. Why are we being labelled as racist and accused of having an agenda?” questioned a visibly vexed Umagandhan. 

The social activist also urged Saifuddin to apologise to residents, some of whom Umagandhan said were considering filing police reports over the aide’s alleged defamation.

In a separate statement before the group’s arrival, Amirudin said that as an initial step, Saifuddin has been instructed to convene an urgent coordination meeting tomorrow regarding Taman Sri Muda’s flood tribulations.

The meeting, Amirudin said, will involve all stakeholders, including the Shah Alam and Klang City Councils and the Irrigation and Drainage Department, to ensure the matter is addressed without further delay.

Earlier, residents warned that the authorities’ failure to act would prompt them to launch a massive protest.

They claimed that three new water pumps worth millions of ringgit, installed by the state government last year, failed to function when needed and caused the area to be flooded multiple times this year, including an incident this morning.

Taman Sri Muda was among the worst areas affected during the massive floods in the Klang Valley in December 2021, which killed 14 and forced thousands of residents to evacuate.

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