The move to compel tahfiz centres in the capital to register with the Kuala Lumpur City Hall and the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) is aimed at ensuring the students’ safety and well-being, Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad.

He said through the registration, DBKL could carry out inspections in terms of building structure and facilities, as well as to advise the centres to meet the minimum requirements and standards.

“The registration does not mean that the tahfiz centres have our approval in all aspects. We just want them to be on our list so that we know they exist and any problem can be easily identified.

“Besides, we don’t want them to operate from an unsafe building or to serve with a clandestine purpose,” he said after opening the 10th International Conference on World Class Sustainable Cities 2018 (WCSC 2018) in Kuala Lumpur today.

City Hall has given until Dec 31 this year for all tahfiz centres in the city to register, failing which, their operations will be ordered to stop.

Last Monday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mujahid Yusof Rawa was reported as saying that the tahfiz centre in Kepong, where the principal was charged with sodomising nine pupils, had not been approved by DBKL as it had failed to submit a report from the Fire and Rescue Department in its application.

Meanwhile, in his keynote address at the WCSC 2018, Khalid urged all cities in Malaysia to adopt and adapt green development strategies and actions to mitigate the impact of climate change.

“Green development will ensure comfortable and healthy cities and will also assist in more efficient and sustainable use of energy,” he said.

He said the Kuala Lumpur City Plan 2020, which would be gazetted by the end of this year, was ready to incorporate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or the New Urban Agenda (NUA).

“We are committed to support and implement the SDG objectives and the NUA action plans to ensure the city is safe, inclusive, resilient and sustainable with good efficient urban governance,” he said.

Khalid said better communication and collaboration among the different agencies and ministries were required for better planning and implementation of projects and initiatives in building a sustainable city that would ensure that no one is left behind.

“However, we will ensure that all implementing agencies understand their roles towards achieving a common goal and coordinate their efforts through inter-ministerial, inter-agency dialogues at regional and city levels,” he said.

Themed 'Kuala Lumpur: Today and Beyond', the one-day conference gathered more than 500 local and international delegates representing the built-environment industry professionals, city managers, government agencies, residents’ groups, and city stakeholders.

– Bernama