No one suffered more than the dead pupils, Zaid tells Noh Omar

Authorities have a "tidak apa" attitude which appears to apply only to religious schools, charges the former law minister.

PETALING JAYA: No one suffered more than the children who died in the fire at Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah tahfiz school, Zaid Ibrahim told Minister Noh Omar who yesterday said no action would be taken against the school as it had “suffered enough”.

Labelling the urban wellbeing, housing and local government minister’s statement as “stupid” and “irresponsible”, Zaid said it was the authorities’ “tidak apa” (nevermind) attitude that had allowed such an incident to take place.

This attitude, he added, appeared to apply only to religious schools.

“Remember the boy in Johor who died after he was beaten at a tahfiz school?

“Even in that case no proper inquiry was held to investigate what happened. Instead, his death was blamed on a medical condition he allegedly suffered from,” Zaid said to FMT.

The former law minister was referring to 11-year-old tahfiz school pupil Mohamad Thaqif Amin Mohd Gaddafi who died last April after being taken to hospital with injuries on his limbs.

An assistant warden of the school was initially arrested and investigated for murder, but was released not long after.

It was reported later that the boy’s death was not due to trauma or injury from being beaten, but of leptospirosis, complicated by skin necrosis and a micro blood congealing condition known as microthrombi, which affected his blood vessels.

Zaid said that every time something happened involving an Islamic group, everyone was very reluctant to take action.

“The same rules must apply to all schools, regardless of whether it is religious-based or not.

“You must be very strict about this, because it involves the safety of the children in the schools’ care.

“How many more children must die before we realise there is something wrong with the system?”

Noh Omar had said that the tahfiz school did not have a valid permit from the fire and rescue department for the building to be occupied.

As a result, instead of having two exit doors, the school reportedly only had one, which made escape impossible for those trapped in the fire.

“It’s easy for Noh Omar to say that ‘the school has suffered enough’, because his sons were not there. Would he say the same if they were?” said Zaid.

“The children were the ones who suffered the most. You have to be fair to them, and make sure other children don’t suffer the same fate.

“The authorities have to take action against the school. These people should be prosecuted for their negligence.”

The blaze that took the lives of 21 pupils and two wardens broke out at the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah tahfiz school, located in Jalan Keramat Ujung, just before dawn yesterday.

Authorities had initially suspected that the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit.

However, the fire department is investigating the possibility that it was an act of mischief, following a review of evidence and witness testimonies.

The Kuala Lumpur fire and rescue department’s K-9 dog unit also detected traces of chemicals in the burnt area, and these have been sent for lab tests.

Those who survived the blaze reportedly told authorities they were unable to leave the dormitory through the door as there were two cooking gas cylinders in front of it. -FMT