RM30mil allocation may not go directly to tahfiz

THE Government may collaborate with other agencies and groups to upgrade tahfiz instead of distributing the RM30mil allocation to the schools.

Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar said the proposed measures to utilise the allocation will be discussed in the next Cabinet meeting.

The Government has given aid to tahfiz before, but it has been used to pay salaries with little focus on building and fire safety.

“This time we may want to collaborate with Giatmara, community colleges or other agencies and groups to cover the safety essentials with the budget we have,” he said to a question by Hee Loy Sian (PKRPetaling Jaya Selatan).

A tragic pre-dawn fire at the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah tahfiz in Kampung Datuk Keramat in Kuala Lumpur last month killed 21 students and two teachers, leading to widespread public attention and a focus on the safety elements in tahfiz.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had then announced the RM30mil allocation to upgrade the infrastructure of private tahfiz nationwide.

Noh said during the Fire and Rescue Department’s checks on 1,238 tahfiz nationwide between Sept 26 and Oct 17, 910 of the schools inspected were registered with either the federal or state reli- gious authorities, but only 748 of them met the safety requirements, while 169 had insufficient fire safety measures and 73 had no certification from the department.

“We have issued 367 notices to 83 tahfiz regarding the safety elements they have overlooked, and an interim period of 90 to 180 days have been given for them to comply,” he said.