GEORGE TOWN, March 12 — The Penang state government has given operators of unregistered nurseries, kindergartens and daycare centres (TTPJ) until March 31 to check and verify the registration status of their premises, with enforcement action to follow after the deadline.
State Social Development, Welfare and Non-Islamic Affairs Committee chairman Lim Siew Khim said the period would allow TTPJ operators who might have been left out of the official list of registered centres to come forward and verify their registration with the relevant authorities.
“The state government has agreed to give all TTPJ operators until March 31 to visit the State Education Department (JPN) or the Social Welfare Department (JKM), according to their category, to check the status of their centres.
“After the deadline, no further appeals will be considered, so I encourage all operators to come forward and check (their status) within the given period,” she told a press conference at her office in Komtar here today.
She said that based on records as of December 31 last year, there were 1,033 TTPJs in Penang, with 225 still unregistered.
Lim said that of the total, 213 were nurseries, 61 of which were unregistered, followed by 557 kindergartens with 84 unregistered, and 263 daycare centres, 80 of which had yet to obtain official registration.
She said the matter required serious attention since TTPJs cater to vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly and persons with disabilities who need safe and quality care.
“The state government has approved a special initiative to help operators verify the status of their premises and businesses, encouraging more centres to come forward for official registration.
“For the 225 premises that have registered their centres with JKM or JPN before December 31, the state government is offering an exemption for Planning Permission as well as a fixed processing fee of RM1,000 for the infrastructure registration certificate,” she said.
She added that for new applications submitted after that date, operators would receive a 50 per cent discount on development fees for change of use charges, in addition to an exemption from fines estimated at around RM10,000 for each premises that had previously operated without approval.
Lim said the legalisation period and the incentive programme would be in effect from March 1 to February 28, 2027, after which enforcement action would be taken against any premises still operating without registration from March 1, 2027.
Meanwhile, Lim said she had directed the Penang JKM to conduct more frequent surprise inspections and carry out a thorough review of TTPJ operators’ and caregivers’ compliance with the KAP across the state.
“All caregivers must attend the KAP to ensure that professionalism, responsibility, and the quality of care meet the set standards. I also hope that the NRD will conduct regular monitoring to prevent incidents like the recent incident (the death of a baby at a nursery) from happening again,” she said. — Bernama
