No more leniency on tahfiz school safety - Titiwangsa MP

Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani who was in Bangkok on official matters when the Tahfiz Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah fire tragedy occurred Thursday morning, has cancelled his official programme to return home.

The MP for Titiwangsa who was leading a three-day visit of the Kuala Lumpur Business Club (KLBC) to Thailand since Wednesday said private tahfiz schools should no longer be given leniency on their building safety.

"I will asked for a list of all tahfiz schools in my constituency and I will visit every one. I want to tell them that there will be no exception on building safety. If they want to set up a tahfiz centre, they must comply with all safety requirements," he told Bernama.

Johari was asked to comment on the fire tragedy in Jalan Keramat Hujung in the federal capital yesterday morning which killed 21 students and two wardens of the tahfiz school located in his constituency.

He also said authorities were also not informed of any construction or renovation of tahfiz schools by their operators to enable the government to monitor the work carried out.

-- BERNAMA