EVERY time a crime is committed, the authorities tend to take a large portion of the blame. Perhaps public apathy could be a reason why criminals seem to have the upper hand these days?

Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, deputy chairman of the Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation, said public apathy was an important issue.

"I have always maintained that crime prevention is a collective responsibility. We cannot solely depend on the police to fight the menace)." He said that even the most sophisticated security systems would not work without everyone's co-operation. "I, therefore, applaud Dijaya Corporation Berhad's efforts to increase co-operation among the various bodies in the fight against crime," he said during the official handing over of the police beat base by the company to the Petaling Jaya police.

The police beat base was handed over by P.K. Poh, Dijaya's group managing director to OCPD Petaling Jaya, Senior Assistant Commissioner II Datuk Ghazali Md Amin. According to Ghazali, project discussions began several months ago and resulted in an agreement between the police and Dijaya to provide more patrols within the Tropicana/Damansara Indah residential area.

"The patrols will be conducted in three shifts, day and night," he said. "The RM50,000 beat base will "be used by police personnel to rest, monitor and conduct simple queries," added Ghazali.

"Although there are few crimes within Tropicana Damansara lndah to date, the enhanced security measure is seen as a positive step in the right direction," added Ghazali.

Dijaya is the parent company of the Tropicana Golf and Country Resort. Among its projects are the Tropicana Golf and Country Resort, Damansara lndah Resort Homes, Damansara Intan E-Business Park, Casa Damansara 1, Casa Damansara 2, Sri Desa Condominiums and Sri Desa Entrepreneurs Park.