RapidKL to take legal action against rally organiser

(Bernama) – RapidKL, the provider of Klang Valley’s LRT and bus services, will take legal action against the organiser of yesterday’s rally in the city over the huge losses its incurred due to alleged rough acts by the participants.

The Company wants appropriate compensation for its losses which included severe damage to its assets, loss in revenue at the Masjid Jamek LRT station after the demonstrators rushed through LRT gates without paying and loss of revenue from its bus operations.

“We incurred huge losses like our damaged roller shutters and gates, toilet doors as well as people using our services without paying and our bus operations were also severely affected because of road closures,” Syarikat Prasarana Berhad (Prasarana) Group managing director Datuk Shahril Mokhtar, said in a statement today.

Shahril said the company will make a police report against the organiser and believed that other transport providers and retailers also experienced physical damages and revenue losses as well.

“We took years to build something, but to destroy, it can be done in the blink of an eye,” he said.

He said Prasarana’s personnel also were hit with mineral water bottles and verbally abused by a group of protesters when trying to help a fainted passenger at the station.

“It is our duty to take care of passengers, our assets and staff at the station. Hence, there was need to close down the station at that time,” he said, adding that station were also closed during two similar rallies previously.

Shahril said that most of the protesters simply refused to disperse and move on as they decided to hang around dangerously at the elevated platform of the station with some even showering water bottles from the platform to the ground.

“The crowd was very rowdy and brazen…there were even protesters walking on the track area which is very dangerous because there are live high voltage cables connected to the track,” he added.