Bersih steering committee member Jay Jay Denis said the electoral watchdog stood firm in its refusal to pay the RM26,500 that the KL mayor said it owed.

DBKL would have to take court action if it wished to pursue payment, he added.

“We had hundreds of volunteers to keep the streets clean during and after the rally.

“So why should we make payment to City Hall for cleaning up the streets (after us)?” Denis told The Sun Daily today.

DBKL had said the sum billed was what it had cost its contractors to clean and repair public property damaged during the Bersih 5 rally on Nov 19.

Most of it was said to be damage to the landscape near KLCC where the crowd finally gathered to hear speeches.

It was reported that DBKL had also billed the Red Shirts RM873 to clean up after their counter rally at Padang Merbok on the same day.

Red Shirts leader Jamal Yunos declared he would pay “triple the amount” demanded.

“Even though we didn’t get the permit for the gathering, we will pay three times the amount,” he was reported to have said.

It is not known if the Red Shirts have already paid up.