Deputy housing and local government minister Aiman Athirah Sabu said that for private primary and secondary educational institutions, 234 inspections were carried out during the same period with 41 notices issued.

“The ministry, through the fire and rescue department, will carry out enforcement activities to eliminate fire hazards on premises, on a scheduled basis.

“This is to ensure that the premises always comply with the conditions set and do not make any modifications to the premises that were approved based on the original plan,” she said during question-and-answer time in the Dewan Negara today.

She was responding to a question from Mohammad Redzuan Othman regarding steps to ensure that daycare centres and private primary and secondary institutions of education for children, which often operate in business complexes and shophouses, comply with safety regulations.

Aiman said the ministry strongly supported the involvement of stakeholders in driving the development of the private education sector through efforts to simplify the process of approving business premises licences, without neglecting safety aspects and compliance with the applicable laws.

She said the safety requirements that must be complied with include the installation of a fire safety system, the provision of at least two exits including doors and exit stairs, the construction of separation walls, the placement of fire extinguishers at easily visible exits, limits on cooking activities and the installation of self-contained smoke detectors.

“In 2024, a total of 1,208 licences for business premises were approved by all local authorities.

“During that period, 723 monitoring and enforcement operations for compliance with the conditions of the licence approval were carried out by the local authorities with 61 compounds and eight notices issued to licence owners.

“In 2025, a total of 1,737 licences were approved with 472 monitoring and enforcement operations carried out, leading to the issuance of 96 compounds and 23 notices,” she said.