Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has been urged to relinquish his internal security minister post if he is unable to stop the rising crime rate.

Penang DAP chairperson Chow Kon Yew said Abdullah should step down gracefully and allow someone else to work full time for that portfolio.

"He is too busy. He holds too many ministerial portfolios and chairmanship of various cabinet committees that he could possibly handle," he added.

Chow holds the prime minister, who is also finance minister, responsible for making the people feel insecure in their own backyard.

He urged the government and its enforcement agencies to step up its operations to curb the menace to allay public fear and restore foreigners' confidence in the country's security system.

The opposition politician warned that the increasing crime rate could affect the country's foreign investment and tourism drive.

"The prime minister should quit as the internal security minister and appoint another person who could devote all his time to stop the ever increasing crime rate," he reiterated.

"The situation is bad. We need someone full time to do the job, not part time," he added.

Increase in crime rate

According to the official crime index released in the PDRM website, the country had 198,622 crime incidents in 2006 compared with 157, 459 in 2005, which is a 12 percent hike.

In the first two months of 2007, the police recorded 35, 076 crime cases. The biggest crime in all the years is theft including property theft, petty theft, house break-ins and vehicle theft.

Equally disturbing was that the crime-solving rate had slid during the same period.

In 2005, the police managed to solve 76,284 cases, which amounted to 48.9 percent while only 73,281 or 36.8 percent of the cases were solved in 2006.

In January and February this year, 13,386 or 38.1 percent of the cases have been solved.

In the past when DAP raised this issue in Parliament, the government had claimed that the national crime-solving rate was always above the international accepted level of 40 percent.

However, Chow said Abdullah owed the public an explanation on why there was a decrease in the crime-solving rate for 2006, which was below the international mark.

"Have the police slowed down and become inefficient in solving crime?" he asked.

Primary concern

The statistics also revealed that Selangor is the most crime-prone state with 47,499 reported cases in 2005, 54,270 in 2006 and 6,771 in January and February this year.

Other leading crime-prone states are Johor with 24,945 cases in 2005, 28,469 in 2006 and 3,524 in last January and February, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur with 20,689, 25,236 and 4,547 cases; and Penang with 12,407, 16,229 and 3,822 cases respectively.

A recent survey done by the Penang-based Guang Ming Daily revealed that most Penangites were worried about the swelling crime rate in the state.

The crime rate in the state had grown by 30 percent between 2005 and 2006.

The survey disclosed that Penangites have demanded that Chief Minister Dr Koh Tsu Koon and his state government stop the distressing situation immediately.

"Security is the Penang people's number one priority now. The state government must initiate immediate proactive steps to quell crime," said DAP deputy secretary-general and Bukit Mertajam MP Chong Eng.

A Taiwanese investor, Huang Zhi Sheng, 38, who has a hi-tech plant in Juru, told the vernacular press in Penang that he was considering leaving the state due to the high number of crimes.

The investor himself has fallen victim twice to theft in the past year.