Poor fire safety in Selangor tahfiz schools

The Selangor Fire and Rescue Department has inspected the fire safety features at 104 of the 402 registered religious institutions in the state, its director, Azmi Osman, said today.

He said several of the institutions were found to be not adhering to the specifications on fire safety, the wiring was improper and no fire extinguisher was available.

"Besides monitoring the registered religious institutions, we are also looking at the unregistered schools," he said to reporters after attending the Anti-Corruption Pledge of the Selangor Fire and Rescue Department here.

Also present was Selangor director of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Datuk Wan Ramli Wan Abdullah.

The inspection at the religious schools has been necessitated by a fire at the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah religious residential school in Kuala Lumpur that resulted in the deaths of 21 students and two teachers on Sept 14.

Azmi advised the operators of religious schools in Selangor to set up volunteer fire-fighting squads at their institutions and instruct the teachers and students on fire safety requirements and measures.

"In early May, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi launched volunteer fire-fighting squads for Tahfiz and pondok schools in the country, and we notice that the response in Selangor has been poor," he said. -- Bernama