Malaysia pledges to keep World Urban Forum incident-free

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has pledged to keep incident-free the ninth World Urban Forum (WUF 9) that will gather 25,000 people from 194 countries in the city for a week from Feb 7.
"We want to maintain the zero-incident goal. The participation of all quarters (in making this possible) is of utmost importance," said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Ahmad Zahid, who is also the Home Minister, spoke to reporters after watching from ground-level and atop a building the anti-terrorism exercise by the security forces today in the vicinity of the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre where the conference is scheduled to be held.
He said Malaysia would not take for granted the question of security at all international conferences it hosted and the security authorities targeted an incident-free WUF 9. Fifty percent of the participants at WUF 9 make up international delegations.
WUF 9 is organised by the Malaysian Ministry of Urban Well-being, Housing and Local Government and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).Ahmad Zahid said more than 2,000 personnel from the Royal Malaysia Police and Malaysian Armed Forces as well as the Fire and Rescue Department would be on hand to ensure order and security during the forum, even keeping a close watch at all the entry points of the country.
Today’s exercise involved nearly 200 security personnel and agencies such as the Special Action Unit of the Police, the Health Ministry and the Fire and Rescue Department.
The exercise was also observed by Urban Well-being, Housing and Local Government Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun and National Security Council director-general Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin.
WUF 9 is the first forum held after the third UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) in Quito, Ecuador, from Oct 17 to 20, 2016.
The organisation of WUF 9 reflects Malaysia’s commitment to the world in terms of sustainable and prosperous urban development.
WUF, which is the world’s largest biennial forum on urbanisation issues, seeks to study and determine the urban agenda and pave the way for a better future for cities.
WUF 9, carrying the theme “Cities 2030 – Cities for All: Implementing the New Urban Agenda”, has become the first platform to debate the implementation and achievement of the New Urban Agenda.
WUF 9 in Kuala Lumpur is the second such conference to be held in Asia after that hosted by Nanjing in China in 2008.
Cities which have hosted such forums are Nairobi (Kenya), Barcelona (Spain), Vancouver (Canada), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Naples (Italy). — Bernama