Volunteers clean up the trash at rally points

KUALA LUMPUR: Volunteers helped to clear the rubbish left behind during the Bersih 5.0 rally.

One volunteer, who only wanted to be known as Tee, said they were divided into four zones to collect rubbish after the rally.

The volunteers covered Jalan Raja Laut and Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, the Masjid Jamek area, Dataran Maybank and Masjid Negara.

Tee, a volunteer at the Jalan Raja Laut and Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman area, said they put up signs and provided plastic bags for rally-goers to throw rubbish.

Tee said it was the second time Bersih had mobilised its own volunteers to clean up rubbish left during the rally.

“This year, Bersih even arranged for a truck to pick up the collected rubbish,” she added.

Meanwhile, the first “casualty” from the Bersih 5 rally came from an unexpected source.

It was friendly fire, of sorts.

Members of the police’s Field Reserve Unit (FRU) had set up a barricade on Jalan Bangsar.

The FRU wanted to stop the rally-goers from marching on. They locked their arms together and positioned a water-cannon truck and other vehicles behind the barricade.

At 12.10pm, more FRU personnel arrived in full tactical gear to further strengthen the barricade.

They then decided to test the water cannon, but ended up spraying some of their own. They, however, were not dampened by this.