KUANTAN (BERNAMA) - Fifty per cent of the 956 tahfiz (Islamic religious) centres inspected by the Fire and Rescue Department throughout Malaysia since last month are found not safe.

Fire director-general Datuk Wan Mohd Nor Ibrahim said the premises had to be improved, including the installation of fire safety equipment.

"The most common offence is not having fire safety equipment and from inspections conducted, 291 notices have been issued until last Oct 13.

"Another common mistake is that the buildings do not have enough exit or fire escape," he told the media after launching the department's fire safety campaign and exhibition at the lobby of Berjaya Megamall on Sunday (Oct 15).

He said operators of the tahfiz centres had been given time to improve the safety condition of their premises, failing which legal action could be taken against them.

He said they should also install fire warning equipment, such as alarm system or smoke detector as a safety precaution.

"We are now compiling the relevant data to be tabled to the government," he said.