Govt buildings must conduct fire drill every year

KUALA LUMPUR: All government buildings are required to conduct a fire drill exercise at least once a year, said Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar.
The Tanjong Karang MP said the requirement to conduct a fire drill exercise was made in a circular issued in 2007.
He was responding to a question posed by Khoo Soo Seng (BN - Tebrau) who asked the ministry to state whether periodical fire drills is mandatory for all government and high rise buildings.
The issue of fire drills came to light during the recent fire at the Hospital Sultanah Aminah last month, where the Fire Department said it was possible that such an exercise had not been done in the hospital since last year.
Noh said the Fire Services (Designated Premises) Order 1998 has also made it compulsory for a fire drill exercise to be conducted on nine types of premises - library, hospital, hotel, dormitory, office, shop, factory, place of meeting and storage room.
"Any government buildings included in these categories are required to conduct a fire drill exercise, except for residential buildings such as (living) quarters," he said.
Noh also admitted that some fire hydrants installed in People's Housing Programme premises were not managed well and could pose a danger during a fire emergency.
He added the ministry has proposed to set up a "Komuniti Bomba" to forge better cooperation between residents and fire personnel.
"We want to ensure that the rakyat are together with us in overcoming incidences of fire," he said.