Car theft is on the rise with 5,388 cases recorded for the first six months of this year, the Dewan Rakyat heard today.

According to Deputy Internal Security Minister Fu Ah Kiow, the number of cases recorded for the whole of last year was 9,711 and 8,624 in 2004.

He provided the statistics in response to a question from Loh Seng Kok (BN- Kelana Jaya).

Loh asked what the government is doing to monitor and protect buyers from being duped into purchasing stolen cars.

Fu said at present there are 2,080 companies given licences to sell used vehicles and there are three measures to prevent buyers from being conned.

Random monitoring

He said second hand car dealers can seek the assistance of the police to determine if a particular car has been reported stolen before while buyers are required to obtain the approval of the previous owner before a car can be purchased.

Apart from this, he said the police carry out random monitoring of used car dealers to ensure that no stolen cars are put for sale.

To a supplementary question, Fu said there is no law to compel second hand car dealers to check whether a car is stolen or otherwise.

Quizzed on the reasons behind the sharp spike in car theft cases at the Parliament lobby later, Fu replied: "It was just like (other) criminal cases, which are on the rise also."

In another development, Acting Backbenchers Club chairperson Ahmad Zainuddin Omar announced that special counters will be opened for parliamentarians and media representatives to enquire on matters related to projects involved in the 9th Malaysia Plan.