DANGEROUS: Out of the 100 lodging houses operating in Alor Star, over 40 are illegal and a fire hazard

ALOR STAR: THE Alor Star City Council (MBAS) has identified more than 40 lodging houses in the city which are operating illegally.

The council believes that some of the premises are being used as a front for immoral and and vice activities.

It is understood that the operators refused to apply for permits from the council as the premises do not comply with building emergency evacuation plan in the event of a fire.

Alor Star Mayor Datuk Mat Noh Ahmad said the council had identified more than 100 lodging houses and budget hotels in the city and only 60 of them had applied for permits.

He said while the council was vetting the 60 applications, the remaining 40 still failed to submit their application.

“These lodging houses lack safety aspects such as emergency stairwell and fire extinguishers in the event of an emergency.

“The building emergency evacuation and operation plan is crucial to avoid any untoward incident,” he said.

Mat Noh said to apply for the business premises licence from MBAS, the operators must comply with three conditions.

“The conditions are Planning Approval and Building Plans Approval and a letter of support from the Fire and Rescue Department.

“The building will be inspected to ensure that it complies with the safety requirement procedures,” he said.

Checks by Streets showed that some of these premises did not have signboards, most likely done deliberately to evade the authorities’ detection.

A man, who was hired as a look-out at one of these illegal lodging houses, claimed that the premises was safe from a raid by the authorities.

“I will immediately alert the guests should the authorities arrive for a spot-check so you do not have to worry,” said the man.

He said his employer operates four lodging houses and three of them had signboards while the other was left unmarked.

-NST