COMBATING CRIME AGAINST BUSINESSES VITAL FOR PRIVATE INVESTMENT, SAYS FMM

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 (Bernama) -- Combating crime against businesses is vital in
supporting private investment and to strengthen investor confidence, says the
Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM).

At a FMM Security Conference here Thursday, its council member, Davies
Danavaindran welcomed the allocation of RM350 million (US$112.269 million) in
the 2011 Budget to fight crime and promote safe townships.

"While the overall crime index in the first nine months of this year has
declined by 16 per cent, there does not seem to be any let-up, in the number of
lorry hijackings," he said.

There were 18 cases of such hijackings reported in the first six months of 2010
compared with 24 for the whole of 2009.

"This is a cause for concern for manufacturers, given the apparent ease with
which hijackers are able to obtain information such as the movement of freight,
the content of trucks and economic value of the goods involved.

"Similarly, burglars are familiar with the layout of buildings that they break
into," Danavaindran highlighted, in a statement by the FMM Thursday.

DSP Ricky Teh of the Serious Crime Division of Bukit Aman said close cooperation
and the exchange of intelligence between manufacturers, businesses and the
police, had resulted in a sharp drop in crime against businesses.

Cargo hijacking, warehouse robberies and break-ins and the theft of laden
lorries, had fallen dramatically in the last few years.

"It has dropped from 357 cases five years ago to 39 this year," he noted.

The FMM Security Conference was organised to help businesses improve their
knowledge on safety and security measures that could be undertaken to prevent
crime.

Speakers at the conference were from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Police,
PLUS Expressways Bhd, Securiforce Sdn Bhd, TNT Express Worldwide (M), and
Smartag Solutions Bhd.
-- BERNAMA



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