‘We’re reviewing safety specs’
Ministry to inspect high-rise buildings to prevent tragedies
THE Housing and Local Government Ministry is currently reviewing specifications for safety and security features of high structural blocks to prevent any tragedy involving children falling from tall buildings, the august House was told.
Its minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said this will include looking at whether there was a need to increase the height of balcony railings and setting up nets to break any fall.
She said high-rise buildings currently adhere to the existing bylaws but the ministry was prepared to further strengthen it to ensure such cases can be prevented in the future.
“The bylaw of the uniform building 1984 has set that balconies (of tall buildings) must have railings not less than 1m tall.
“In terms of specifications and structure, we do have it. But we are looking into whether we need to review a higher railing.
“I do not want our houses to feel like a prison if the railing is too high.
“However, we will have to relook the structure again and whether the specifications need to be changed,” she said in reply to a supplementary question from Fong Kui Lun (PH-Bukit Bintang) during Question Time.
Fong had asked the ministry whether it should impose a compulsory ruling to set up nets to stop cases of children falling from tall buildings.
On Sept 13, a three-year-old girl died after falling from the 17th floor of the People’s Housing Project (PPR) apartment building in Kota Damansara.
Zuraida gave assurance that the ministry will conduct periodic inspection of tall buildings to make sure that it remains safe for the people.
She cited that among the main reasons for such a tragedy was poverty and problems associated with childcare when parents are at work or when they leave their children home alone briefly.
“Through our empowering the community programme, we have taken the initiative to solve the issue by training mothers within the PPR community to step in as a childminder or babysitter to help their peers to take care of children while some of them are out of their homes,” she said.