KOTA KINABALU: Twenty-three tahfiz centres in Sabah have received maintenance service, said Rural and Regional Development Minister Dato Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
He said 42 of the centres had applied for maintenance.
“Some of the applications were rejected because the buildings are new, overlapping applications and such.
“We decided to do wiring works first before we proceed with other safety concerns,” he told the press after a working visit to Maahad Tahfiz Wal Tarbiyyah Masjid Nurul Hikmah at Bukit Padang near here.
Ismail said the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development received security specification requirements from the fire department before carrying out maintenance works at an identified tahfiz.
This is following last year’s incident where 23 students and teachers were killed when Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah, Jalan Datuk Keramat was burnt down.
He disclosed that 457 Tahfiz centres nationwide have undergone maintenance by GiatMara as at February 10.
He said the total was part of the 718 Tahfiz centres which needed to be completed under phase one with an allocation of RM30 million from the government.
“Maintenance on the remaining Tahfiz centres is expected to be completed by March. Most of the 718 Tahfiz centres are not registered and the main focus under phase one is on rewiring works.
“We gave priority to Tahfiz centres which were not registered as most of these centres did not comply with the required wiring standards as compared to Tahfiz centres which were registered. We do not discriminate whether a centre is registered or not… our concerns is the safety of students,” he said.
He said the maintenance of Tahfiz centres under phase two had been allocated RM50 million as announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak when tabling Budget 2018.