GOVT TO REVIEW UNITY AND INTEGRATION PLAN

PUTRAJAYA, July 16 (Bernama) -- The government will review the National
Unity and Integration Action Plan 2006-2010 to shore up the plan for the coming
2011-2015 term, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Dr Koh Tsu
Koon.

He said the government would analyse the effectiveness of the plan in
fostering unity and integration.

"Since its implementation we have not make a review and we are going to
apply the basic concept of performance management to see how effective it has
been," he told reporters after presenting outstanding awards to 276 National
Unity and Integration Department employees here Thursday.

On the Neighbourhood patrol, he said the government would persuade the
private sector to allow workers joining the night patrol to come to work later
in the day the following day.

"To work out an arrangement with private sector is more challenging because
we do not have a legal or procedural arrangement with them.

"We are in the process of looking at creative arrangement. We are thinking
of incentives that could be offered to companies to make them more willing to
give workers half day off like the public sector," he said, adding that, this
would encourage more residents to do community patrol.

He said there were more than 1,500 Neighbourhood patrol units nationwide
and they had solved about 4,000 cases, especially thefts, social offences and
vandalism, monthly.

Dr Koh said the government was also planning to step up the training of
community leaders and government officers on basic social and mediation skills
to handle disputes in the community.

"Personal conflict or misunderstanding, for example, a minor road accident
involving persons from two different communities, if it is not handled properly,
might explode into something undesirable," he added.
-- BERNAMA