A group of disabled rights activist waited for close to an hour at the Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) headquarters to meet council president Zainal Abidin Azim today.
Originally, the group intended to hand a memorandum to Zainal at the entrance to the lobby of the council’s main building. Zainal however, through his representatives, insisted that the 30 disabled individuals meet him at his office on the ninth-floor.
This enraged the individuals who were hoping to see Zainal to air their grievances over an incident last Friday which saw petty trader Murugan Rajoo, 36, allegedly being ill-treated by council officers.
Murugan had his motorcycle-cum-stall seized by MPS officers for trading without a license and he was left stranded by the roadside.
Subsequently he and several Independent Living & Training Centre members tried to reclaim his possessions at the MPS Rawang branch, they were confined by MPS officers for an hour.
During the alleged confinement, he was not allowed to use the toilet and forced to urinate in his pants, in front of others.
Anthony Thanasayan, who represents the Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and ELDERLY Association (Petpositive), said MPS drive to make the district more disabled friendly was no longer meaningful due to Zainal’s actions today.
“There is no point making ramps (for us) on the outside, but inside (the council) their (negative) attitude towards the disabled is still the same. Maybe he (Zainal) would understand when he becomes disabled,” said Anthony.
Former TV3 sports presenter, Ras Adiba Radzi was also present.
Full report at Malaysiakini.com
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