Taman Majidee folk living in fear of criminals

By AUSTIN CAMOENS

Jun 7, 2010

 JOHOR BARU: Residents of Taman Majidee here have been living in increasing fear the past 20 years as criminals are getting more daring and aggressive.
Many of these residents hope for a stronger police presence in the neighbourhood to curb multiple crimes, especially house break-ins.
Zainab Ibrahim, 54, said her house had been broken into at least 10 times the past 30 years.
The retiree, who lives with her daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren, added that she had also been a victim of snatch theft three times last year.
“The neighbourhood used to be a nice place to live in the 1970s but now no one can walk the streets alone without worrying about snatch thieves and robbers,” she said.

Another resident, who only wanted to be known as Govind, 71, said crime was a common occurrence in the neighbourhood.
“Almost every month, a house is robbed,” he said, adding that he was not surprised to hear about the robbery attempt on June 1, about 300m from his house, where robbers used a woman as a human shield when pursued by a security guard.
The retired doctor asked why the police had not been keeping an eye on the neighbourhood with the high crime rate there.
A businessman who only wanted to be known as Low, 57, echoed Zainab’s sentiment that the crime rate in the area was much lower 20 years ago.
“I own a shop lot in the area and it is disturbing that so many crimes occur here on a monthly basis.”
Johor Baru (South) OCPD Asst Comm Zainuddin Yaakob said that police would step up patrols in the housing estate.
“We are aware of the residents’ concerns. We will increase patrols as well as police presence,” he said.
He urged anyone with information on any crime related cases to contact the police hotline at 07-2212999 or the nearest police station.

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