The Health Ministry is to investigate an allegation that the Sultanah Aminah Hospital where a fire claimed six lives on Tuesday does not have a fire safety certificate.

Minister S Subramaniam yesterday said he would discuss the matter with the hospital and Fire and Rescue Department.

The hospital was built in 1938 and it might not have been necessary to have a fire safety certificate then, he told reporters after another visit to the hospital following the fire.

Dr Subramaniam said the ministry ensured there was sufficient safety and fire protection equipment every time there were changes or addition of services.

He said the hospital had been upgraded many times and had new buildings put up and had undergone inspections and approvals from the fire and rescue department.

Asked whether the hospital had conducted fire drills or set up fire response teams, Dr Subramaniam said, "Fire management and prevention is the responsibility of the consessionaire and they have the clearest standard operation procedure for the management of fire outbreaks.

"They have had fire drills, but not recently. Things have always been in place; one is preventive assessment on a periodic level and reporting on it. The second is measures taken in case of fires.

"But in my briefing just now, I emphasised the need for us to ensure that everybody's concern in the entire set-up follows the particular precaution which has been established 100 per cent.

Tuesday's fire at the hospital was the first big fire there and was the worst in terms of lives lost in hospital fires in the country.

According to the hospital website, the hospital located at Jalan Persiaran Abu Bakar Sultan, about two kilometres from the Johor Baru city centre, was build in 1938 and replaced the earliest hospital in the district built in 1882.

Spread out over 98.6 hectares, the Sultanah Aminah Hospital, located close to the Tebrau Strait and facing Singapore, comprises five-storey buildings.

It provides 21 clinical services, nine clinical support services, five non-clinical support services and seven units under the administration of the hospital.

Fire dept interviews witnesses

Meanwhile the investigation carried out by the Fire and Rescue Department has been completed and has entered the phase recording statement from eyewitnesses.

Putrajaya Fire and Rescue assistant director-general (Fire Investigation Division) Edwin Galan Teruki said the full report on the case was expected to be ready in two weeks.

"We have begun recording the statements from nine eye witnesses comprising doctors and nurses at the HSA. Our investigation at the scene was completed at 5pm yesterday.

"Our investigation was not only focused on the cause of fire, but also in the aspects of operation and fire safety," he told reporters yesterday.

Edwin said the inspection and investigation mounted by eight officers from the Fire and Rescue Department of Johor and Putrajaya.

Malacca wants checks

The Malacca government has ordered all relevant agencies to conduct a thorough examination of the safety aspects of the Malacca Hospital in the wake of Tuesday's fire at a Johor hospital that claimed six lives.

Chief Minister Idris Haron said yesterday risks, such as outbreak of fires, had to be kept at the zero level while ensuring that fire-fighting equipment was always in good working order.

He said an examination of the electrical wiring should also be carried out on a regular basis.

"The relevant parties should work out the hospital's emergency response plan and the action to be taken during disasters such as fires.

"There should be no compromise in the matter, especially on the part of the management of the hospital. We have to make sure the hospital is able to provide the best healthcare service to the rakyat," he said.

Idris spoke to reporters outside the state legislative assembly at the Seri Negeri Complex in Ayer Keroh.

The Malacca Hospital in Bukit Palah was established on Feb 12, 1934, and Yang Dipertua Negeri Mohd Khalil Yaakob as well as the state government itself had expressed the need to construct a new hospital to meet the growing health demands of the people.

- Bernama