JOHOR BARU: All childcare centres throughout Johor will be monitored and audited, says Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi.
“I will make sure that the state government, through the Welfare Department, monitors and audits all childcare centres throughout Johor.
“Special attention will be given to centres that have special needs children,” he said in a Facebook post here yesterday.
He added that the government was taking a serious stand on cases of abuse, violence and exploitation involving children.
Onn Hafiz said he hopes all non-governmental organisations as well as other agencies give their full cooperation.
On Tuesday, Tunku Mahkota Johor Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, during a meeting with Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rina Mohd Harun, called for child protection laws to be strengthened immediately.
He said it was one of the steps that should be taken to ensure cases like the abuse of Down Syn- drome child Bella does not happen again.
“An enhancement of current laws, such as the Child Act 2001, is needed immediately.
“This should include aspects of childcare centre registration, accreditation, assessment, funding and monitoring to ensure that all operators are operating legally with a sense of public service.
“The Welfare Department needs to audit all existing approved childcare centres and quickly close any that are not registered with the department or operating illegally, starting with Johor.
“Legal action should also be taken against the operators or owners of any illegally run establishment,” he said in a statement after the meeting, which was also attended by Unicef representative to Malaysia Amanda Bissex and state woman, family and community development committee chairman Khairin Nisa Ismail.
Tunku Ismail added that an immediate study also needed to be conducted on the condition of childcare centres nationwide, starting in Johor, following guidelines from Unicef and other independent institutions.