PETALING JAYA (June 16): Shop owners around the Taman Megah area here are concerned about the "alarming" rise in robbery cases since the beginning of this month.
"Over the last two weeks, there is at least one case each day. You get calls with friends informing you that a case has happened here and there.
"It is like a merry-go-round, (almost) all shops are being targeted...The spike in the cases is alarming," said Danny Lim of the Petaling Jaya Coffeeshop Association.
He told a press conference that the robbers usually turned up during the closing hour of business demanding the cash takings for the day.
Ang Shew Choo, who operates the popular Fatty Crab restaurant in the area, said her restaurant fell victim to a robbery last Wednesday.
"We were about to close the restaurant at 11.30pm when one man with a parang showed up. My daughter-in-law who was manning the cash register threw whatever money there was to the guy.
"Then suddenly two other men appeared with parang demanding for money as well. My daughter-in-law said that there was no money left and saw that the first robber was gesturing the other two to leave signalling that he had already taken the money," said the 80-year-old.
She said the robbers took between RM1,000 and RM2,000 that night.
Ang added that the last time there was such an alarm around the area was about 10 years ago.
Lim said that late last year, crime rates began to spike around the area. Business owners then approached the police for a solution.
"The police had intense patrolling over two weeks about two months ago. They also had their Ops Payung (make-shift police watch-points) around and the crime rate went down," he said.
He added that a few shop-owners have had a meeting with Petaling Jaya OCPD ACP Arjunaidi Mohammed last Friday to voice their concern and he had advised them to hold meetings to discuss the issues with a police officer present so the police would know more of the concerns in different areas.
Lim added that the police have done this before during the previous spike of crime cases and it was successful.
"We have met with the police. We are approaching the press because in a way, it is also a warning to the robbers that we are on high alert," he added.
More visibility, re-allocation of police manpower
Also present at the press conference were the DAP's PJ Utara MP Tony Pua, Bukit Gasing state assembly member Rajiv Rishyakaran and Damansara Utara assembly member Yeo Bee Yin.
Rajiv said the police needed to increase their visibility and deploy more personnel at the affected areas.
"The mere presence of police is bound to stop criminals. Maybe the Selangor CPO (Datuk Tun Hisan Tun Hamzah) should reallocate more police personal to Petaling Jaya.
Highlighting the lack of manpower, Yeo said the number of residents served by police in Petaling Jaya was more than double the recommended international standard.
"In Petaling Jaya there are 619,000 residents and only 1,333 police officers. The ratio is 1:472. International recommendation is 1: 250.
"So Malaysian police have to protect double the residents," she said.
Yeo added that the lack of police personal can be somewhat countered with the presence of auxiliary police.
However the Petaling Jaya City Council's (MBPJ) applications to employ auxiliary police have been rejected by the federal police.
"When developers like SP Setia and even Majlis Bandaraya Melaka can get auxiliary police services why can't we get it. Is it because we are under a Pakatan (Rakyat) state," she asked.
Pua too stressed the need for police to deploy more personnel in the affected areas.
"The Royal Commission of Inquiry (into the police force) in 2005 stated that only about 9% of the police force is allocated for fighting crime, whereas about 30% is allocated for Federal Reserve Unit (FRU), Light Strike Unit, general administrative matters.
Pua added that although the police force as a whole had enough personnel, there was a clear disproportion when it came to division of duties, which needs to be addressed.
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