Enact child safety laws for high-rise residential buildings, says Suhakam
PETALING JAYA : The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) has called for the enactment of specific laws to enhance child safety legislation in high-rise residential buildings, following the recent deaths of a seven-year-old and two-year-old in separate accidents.
'These back-to-back tragedies are not isolated accidents.
'They are preventable deaths that starkly expose the failure to implement essential safety measures in high-rise residential buildings,' Suhakam children's commissioner Farah Nini Dusuki said in a statement today.
She said the child safety laws to be enacted by the housing and local government ministry should include mandatory safety grilles or protective mesh on windows and balconies for apartment and flat units.
'Additionally, minimum safety design standards for child-friendly high-rise units must be established under existing building laws or regulations.
'The ministry and local authorities must also review current building design guidelines to ensure that child safety considerations are mandatory in all high-rise residential developments,' she said.
The seven-year-old girl who died on May 20 fell from a babysitter's home on the 29th floor of a condominium in Puchong, Subang Jaya.
Subang Jaya deputy police chief Fairus Jaafar said preliminary findings indicated that the victim climbed out of the window, which had no safety grilles installed.
On May 17, meanwhile, a two-year-old boy fell from the seventh floor of a public housing building in Presint 9, Putrajaya.
Farah Nini called for local authorities to conduct regular inspections of high-rise residential units, especially rental properties, to ensure compliance with child safety standards and features.
'The absence of basic safety features in high-rise homes directly contributed to the loss of these young lives. This is unacceptable in any society that claims to uphold children's rights,' she said.
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