The government plans to train another 250 to 300 community mediators this year to assist in resolving community problems across the country, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Koh Tsu Koon said.

He said currently, the community mediators programme was open only to leaders of Rukun Tetangga (Neighbourhood Watch) and community leaders who had to undergo 25 days of training to complete five modules.

"There are currently 400 community mediators in the country mostly in 50 hotspots which have problems related to ethnic relations, crime or social," he told a news conference after delivering a New Year message to the National Unity and Integration Department in Putrajaya today.

The community mediators programme was introduced in 2009 to provide constructive process for resolving differences and conflicts between individuals to avoid destructive confrontation, prolonged litigation or violence.

The National Unity and Integration Department reported that it had managed to solve more than 200 cases last year, including quarrels among neighbours.

Koh said they would monitor the programme to see its effectiveness.

On another note, the minister hoped Malaysia could place itself in the top 20 countries in the Global Peace Index this year as compared to 22nd among 144 countries last year.

Nevertheless, he said last year's achievement was better compared with the 26th place in 2009 and 38th place in 2008.

"The ranking showed that despite having several issues which are widely debated in the country, we are still able to solve it peacefully, thanks to the high spirit of unity among our people," he said.

Meanwhile, Koh said the National Unity and Integration Department had created many success stories last year, including in setting up 550 new neighbourhood watch areas nationwide, bringing the total to 5,008.

Besides, a total of 466 voluntary patrol schemes had also been carried out in the areas last year as compared to the initial target of 300, he said.

- Bernama