(Sept 4): Bersih 2.0's refusal to pay RM65,000 in cleaning costs to Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) after its Bersih 4 rally last weekend is a misuse of public funds, an Umno minister said.

Utusan Malaysia reported Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan telling the organiser of the rally that it was behaving in a rogue manner by taking advantage of the large amount of public donations it had received.

"This is the people's money, it is owned by the people and it should be used for things related to Bersih 4, including the clean-up bill," Rahman was quoted by the Malay daily in a reaction to Bersih 2.0's refusal to pay for the clean-up costs.

Bersih 2.0 received RM2.4 million in public donations in the run-up to its 34-rally last weekend.

Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah had said the group would not fork out a sen to pay the costs and would challenge in court any clean-up bill issued by DBKL.

"I see the funds are being misused and are not utilised 100% in relation to the gathering, when the people had hoped the money would be put to good use," Utusan quoted Rahman, who is also Barisan Nasional's strategic communications director.

He said Bersih 2.0 had no reason to reject the cleaning bill which should be part of its plans in holding the rally.

The minister, whose portfolio includes municipal and city councils such as DBKL, said local authorities would soon proceed with billing Bersih 2.0.

Rahman, who is the Kota Belud MP, said local authorities including DBKL wanted to ensure that any organiser of mass gatherings abided by the law while not being unnecessarily burdened.

The electoral reform group, however, had previously said that it would use the balance of donations after deducting rally costs for its awareness and advocacy work in delineation cases, voter education and voter registration in the run-up to the next general election, due by mid-2018.

Maria had said that an audit would be done on Bersih 2.0's accounts and a budget would be prepared to disclose how the money would be spent. – The Malaysian Insider