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PETALING JAYA: A total of 102 notices were issued to healthcare facilities such as hospitals and clinics last year for non-compliance to fire safety measures.
These “fire-hazard abatement notices” (MBK), which are sent out by the Fire and Rescue Department, came about after it carried out fire hazard elimination activities at 91 hospitals and 495 clinics throughout the country last year.
“The MBK is issued to ensure that lives and properties can be protected from fire hazards,” said the department.
It pointed out that no cases were brought to court as there was full compliance to the notices.
Last year, healthcare facilities in Sarawak received the highest number of such notices at 27
followed by Kuala Lumpur and Kelantan each receiving 19 notices each and Pahang with 18.
It is unclear about the number of government and private facilities involved.
However, the situation was an improvement compared to the previous year when 177 notices were issued.
As for this year, the Fire and Rescue Department told The Star that fire hazard elimination activities were carried out at 19 hospitals and 118 clinics as of March whereby 13 notices were issued to clinics.
It said that Selangor registered the highest number of notices with five notices while Kuala Lumpur and Sarawak had three notices each.
The MBK is issued under the Fire Services Act.
Premises owners who failed to comply with the MBK despite a second check can be penalised under the Act with a fine of RM5,000 per offence or a jail term of up to three years or both. They could also be issued a closure order.
According to the department, it also issued 33 notices from January last year until last month for offences related to the removal or absence of fire fighting equipment or fire safety installations.
This comes under Section 2c of the Act which defines “fire hazard” as “any removal or absence of any firefighting equipment or fire safety installation that is required by law to be provided in the building.”
Furthermore, 89 notices were issued under Section 2d which
is related to malfunctioning fire fighting equipment or safety installation.
The Star reported in October last year that there were 109 MBK notices issued to clinics, care homes (199 notices) and hospitals (68 notices) in 2023. This was based on fire hazard checks conducted at 566 clinics, 310 care homes and 84 hospital premises conducted then.
The Health Ministry said in a written parliamentary reply recently that to ensure the safety of government healthcare facilities, the ministry conducts periodic checks with the Fire and Rescue Department to ensure compliance to the MBK and fire certificates.
“The ministry has always taken corrective measures and improvements are being made with existing allocation to ensure compliance to the notices,” it said.
The ministry has also embarked on efforts to repair and upgrade old hospitals. This began in 2021.
“In 2025, 21 hospitals which are over 50 years old have been approved under the 12th Malaysia Plan for upgrade works that will be carried out by the Public Works Department, which is the main agency to carry out the project,” it said.
Another 26 hospitals are preparing tenders to hire consultants to study and evaluate their safety status before commencing refurbishment and upgrade works.
The ministry’s reply was in response to Khoo Poay Tiong (PH-Kota Melaka) who wanted to know about plans to carry out fire audits at facilities that are over 50 years old and the action taken to address the notices issued to healthcare facilities.
