We will not pay, Bersih tells DBKL over RM34,000 bill

PETALING JAYA: Bersih 2.0 stressed that it will not pay the RM34,150 demanded by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) for allegedly damaging thousands of plants during its Bersih 5 rally, and the Red Shirts counter rally last November.
"No, of course not," its chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah (pix) told theSun when asked if the electoral reform group was willing to fork out the money today.
Maria was responding to a letter by DBKL's Laws and Prosecution Department director Datuk Rohayah Karim, demanding that both Bersih 2.0 and the Red Shirts clear the bill within 14 days, for their respective rallies on Nov 19.
She said she would request her lawyer to reply to DBKL's notice and inform them that Bersih was unwilling to pay the amount and the reasons behind it.
"We will explain why we were there, and that the locations were cleared up by our team after the rally.
"It is a public place, and we were just practising our democratic rights. DBKL shouldn't be deterring us, they should be facilitating us," she said.
Maria added that the group only received the letter today morning, despite it being dated Dec 27, 2016.
Asked what she would do if DBKL initiates legal action, she said: "We will wait and see what they do first."
Attempts to get Red Shirts leader Datuk Seri Jamal Yunos for comment were futile at press time.
In a copy of the letter uploaded on Bersih 2.0's Twitter account, Rohayah explained that the amount was billed by its Landscape and Recreation Department on Nov 24 for damages to DBKL's properties.
She explained that the cost was to cover the 2,300 duranta erecta gold plants and 1,000 units of loropetalum Chinese var rubrum damaged during the rallies.
"If your fail to clear the bill within the stipulated time frame, we will initiate legal action without notice, and any cost and expenditure are to be incurred fully by you," she said.