MELAKA - The Melaka Social Welfare Department (JKM) has confirmed that the childcare centre in Taman Kelemak Utama, Alor Gajah, has been ordered to close following the death of an eight-month-old baby boy under its care last Friday.
In a statement today, its director Halyjah Muhammad said the centre’s closure took effect at 5pm yesterday.
She said that a closure order notice was signed by the childcare centre operator before being displayed at the entrance of the premises.
The media previously reported that the childcare centre was not registered with JKM but has already received support from other agencies such as the Alor Gajah Municipal Council and the Health Office.
It was also reported that the baby’s father Major Mohd Fikry Amri Abd Halim, 39, claimed that a closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage from the childcare centre showed a babysitter forcing a milk bottle into his baby’s mouth, covering the infant with cloth, and smothering him with a pillow.
Following the incident, a 34-year-old woman who worked as a caregiver at the centre was remanded for seven days to assist in the investigation under Section 302 of the Penal Code.
Meanwhile, Halyjah said that since last August, action has been taken against 27 unregistered childcare centres in the state, with nine ordered to close, eight issued compounds, nine under compound action, and one nursery charged in court.
"JKM has formed a taskforce dedicated to the legalisation of unregistered childcare centres and held discussions with the Nurseries Association to ensure immediate registration,” she said.
Halyjah also advised parents to send their children to registered nurseries to avoid any untoward incident.
"There are still operators who are stubborn (continue to operate even though their childcare centres are not registered) because there is a high demand among parents,” she said.
She added that currently, there are 137 registered childcare centres in Melaka Tengah, 101 in Alor Gajah, and 19 in Jasin, serving more than 20,000 children.
"Monitoring will be conducted periodically by JKM, and the list of registered childcare centres is available on the JKM portal at www.jkm.my,” said Halyjah. - BERNAMA