PUTRAJAYA: The Housing and Local Government Ministry is ready to coordinate and assist state governments and local councils to help unregistered houses of worship in undergoing the process of legalisation, says its minister Nga Kor Ming.
In the same vein, he urged all parties seeking to build houses of worship, including churches, mosques, temples or surau, to apply for proper permits.
“We will approve them according to regulations. We have an open-door policy. There has never been an issue,” he said.
Nga said his ministry has a dedicated unit to manage non-Muslim houses of worship and assists not only with applications, but also with maintenance funding.
“Every year, we allocate RM50mil to help maintain non-Muslim houses of worship nationwide. Some temples have leaking roofs or dilapidated structures and we will assist.
“For mosques, RM2.6bil is allocated under Jakim. So this is not an issue,” he said, adding that this reflects the caring and inclusive Madani administration.
Nga also called on Malaysians to handle matters involving houses of worship with wisdom and humility.
“Unity and harmony are the twin keys to our nation’s success. We must resolve such issues peacefully and with understanding,” he said at a Fire and Rescue Department event here, where he received 30 fire engines acquired to replace ageing fire engines across the country in a strategic collaboration with China vehicle builder CLW Special Automobile (M) Sdn Bhd (CLW Malaysia).
Under the trade-in initiative, 30 aged fire engines with a market value of RM2.3mil were handed over to CLW Malaysia in exchange for 30 brand new fire engines at a cost of RM600,000 each.
Earlier, Nga said under the Fire and Rescue Department’s fire hazard elimination initiative, 21,429 inspections were carried out last year on both commercial and residential buildings.
The inspections were almost 19% above the set target of 18,000.
“From these inspections, 11,260 notices were issued, involving 1,612 premises ordering rectification and compliance with fire safety requirements,” he said.
Nga said the government will adopt a “no compromise” approach in enforcing fire safety laws to ensure building owners adhere to regulations strictly.
In preparation for emergencies during the upcoming Chinese New Year, the leave of 80% of 15,000 Fire and Rescue Department personnel was frozen until the end of the festive season.
Also present at the event was China’s ambassador to Malaysia Ouyang Yujing.
