CYBERJAYA, April 6 — A Clause in the Federal Constitution which refers to the exemption given to government buildings from having to obtain the Fire Certificate (FC) is expected to be amended in another two months to compel all government buildings to obtain the FC.
Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said she had brought the matter to the Cabinet’s attention during their meeting in February.
“I was shocked to learn that there are government buildings across the country which have not obtained the FC. The first building that should have obtained the FC is a government building.
“We have just realised that there is a Clause in the Federal Constitution that gives immunity to government buildings (from obtaining the FC), making them not subject to the fire safety laws. This Clause needs to be amended,” she told reporters after launching the Raudhahville in Selangor Cyber Valley here today.
Prior to this, Fire and Rescue Department director-general Datuk Mohammad Hamdan Wahid was reported as saying that approximately 140 government buildings nationwide, 39 of which in Putrajaya, had not obtained the FC.
Zuraida explained that the ministry had commenced coordination meetings with the management of all government buildings concerned and briefed them on what needed to be done.
She said the issuance of the FC to government buildings would not take too long as they had already obtained the Certificate of Completion and Compliance (CCC).
What needs to be done now is to finetune and standardise the procedures so that the CCC is issued together with the FC, she added. — Bernama
