A gathering to discuss the formation of the first neighbourhood watch programme in Bandar Baru Sri Klebang (BBSK) areas D1-D7 took place on Sunday, November 19. The intended programme is a collaborative effort with the Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation.
Held at SRJK(C) Poi Lam, it was graced by Toh Muda Dato’ Ab Wahab bin Dato’ Seri Azizul Hassan, territorial chief of Kinta. Present was Henry Choong, the chairman of Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation (Ipoh chapter).
“We have 450 houses and almost 80 percent are occupied. We plan to have this area gated or guarded upon getting a 70-percent consensus and above. Once that is done, we’ll make an application with Ipoh City Council,” said Eric LCW, chairman of the residents’ association for BBSK areas D1-D7 to Ipoh Echo.
How does the neighbourhood watch work? “There are two ways. The passive way is via a Whatsapp group where residents can share pictures of suspicious activities taking place in their neighbourhood. The active way is to hire security guards and fence up the area,” he explained.
The crime rate, said Eric, has been on the rise since early this year due to the booming population. Common crimes committed are house break-ins, stealing of machineries and iron grills, petty theft and vandalism. “The Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation will check on progress and results of cases submitted to the police each month,” Eric added.
The proposed maintenance fee would be as low as RM50 a month. Once activated, security will be managed by the BBSK committee members who are also residents of BBSK D1-D7.
The self-formed committee, consisting of over 20 volunteers, has gone from house to house distributing flyers every weekend to spread the idea. Interested residents can contact Haris: 018 955 8551 or Shah: 019 416 0743. For more updates, check out Facebook page: BBSK D1-D7 community.
