IKBN to provide free wiring repair service to tahfiz schools nationwide - Khairy

The Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) has instructed National Youth Skills Institute (IKBN) nationwide to provide free electrical wiring inspection and repair services to all tahfiz school located near them.

Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said KBS had identified approximately 100 tahfiz centres for the purposes so far.

He said this followed the deadly fire at Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah school that claimed the lives of its 21 students and two teachers, last Thursday morning.

"Although electrical wiring has nothing to do with the fire at the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah school, the ministry has instructed IKBN to carry out monitoring activity and to provide wiring inspection and repair services to all tahfiz centres near their premises.

"Besides, the KBS will also collaborate with the Home Ministry to identify the hotspots frequented by teenagers involved in drugs," he told reporters after visiting the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah school here today.

Khairy said the KBS and the National Anti-Drug Agency also have their own rehabilitation programmes for those teenagers.

"The KBS has also identified the teenagers and offered them to undergo courses at IKBN to prevent them from getting further involved in drugs," he said.

While expressing condolence to the fire victims' families, Khairy also congratulated the police for finding the suspects who allegedly set the school on fire and solving the case almost immediately.

The minister also presented the ministry's donation of RM26,000 to the tahfiz school.

Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur Police deputy chief Datuk Mazlan Lazim said the police would not close Jalan Keramat Hujung road where the school was located despite the fact that many people had been flocking the area to take picture of the school since the deadly fire, causing major traffic congestion.

"The police will not close the road as it is the main road for motorists in Keramat, we only closed the location of the fire," said Mazlan who was also present at the location today.

Last Saturday, police announced that seven youths aged between 11 and 18 had been arrested in conncetion to the deadly fire.

-- BERNAMA