MB pans opposition's Putra Heights boycott, offers two expert panel seats

Summary

• Amirudin Shari criticises opposition members for boycotting a government briefing on the Putra Heights gas pipeline explosion.

• Selangor MB accuses them of “personal interest and political theatrics” rather than concern for victims.

• He offers them two seats on a special seven-member committee examining the incident, allowing them to nominate their preferred experts.

Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari today criticised opposition members for boycotting a special briefing on the Putra Heights gas pipeline explosion, which was organised by the state government.

Despite this, he said that the state government will provide the opposition with up to two seats on a planned special committee, allowing them to put forward appropriate recommendations.

Speaking in the Selangor state assembly during a special briefing earlier, Amirudin (above) said that the state government was determined to prevent such incidents from recurring, adding that lessons from this experience could help avoid similar disasters nationwide.

On his Facebook page, Selangor opposition leader Azmin Ali had earlier today lamented that a petition to debate the Putra Heights gas pipeline explosion tragedy in the Selangor State Assembly was rejected by the speaker.

Yesterday, he said that Amirudin did not attend the special briefing session.

Don’t politicise

In his speech today, Amirudin said that any efforts taken to address the issue must not be politicised, but motivated by safety, truth, and improvements.

Amirudin said that this is why his administration decided to be transparent and invite all state assembly and parliamentary members to a briefing conducted by agencies following yesterday’s state assembly session.

“Unfortunately, instead of attending yesterday, the opposition state assembly members chose to boycott the briefing and instead held a press conference.

“This shows the opposition’s mentality. It is clear that their motive is personal interest and political theatrics, not the victims in Putra Heights or the people of Selangor.

“Nevertheless, the state government will offer up to two positions for the opposition to propose suitable experts to be members of this committee, to suggest development criteria and approval processes, and additional safety measures that must be taken to ensure such incidents do not recur,” he said.

Amirudin was referring to Selangor’s planned special committee for gas pipeline drainage risk adaptation involving expertise from the Occupational Safety and Health Department (Dosh), the Minerals and Geoscience Department, local authorities and Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas).

He said that this committee will comprise up to seven experts.

He said that this committee will commence operations once its membership is finalised, ensuring the recommendations serve not merely as guidance for Selangor but are implemented across Malaysia.

“This administration is also committed to the transparency of this process, with the primary interest being the residents of Putra Heights, particularly in Taman Putra Harmoni and Kampung Kuala Sungai Baru.

“The investigation report by the four agencies will be summarised and combined as one official document and given to every affected resident in Taman Putra Harmoni and Kampung Kuala Sungai Baru, and then made into a public document, with permission,” Amirudin added.

No sabotage element

On Monday, Dosh’s Petroleum Safety Division director Husdin Che Amat announced that the gas pipe involved in the blast was not fully supported by the soil around it due to cyclic loading, causing a weakness in the welded joint that broke apart and started the fire.

At the same press conference, Selangor police chief Hussein Omar Khan confirmed that there were no elements of sabotage or negligence, and the case has been classified as no further action.

Unimpressed, Selangor PAS chief Ab Halim Tamuri said the report was not comprehensive and relied heavily on an internal investigation committee, which raised more questions than answers.

However, Amirudin dismissed the claims and said the investigations were done thoroughly based on pipe and soil samples, in addition to studying water movements.

He also said that the state government is open to the possibility of further probes by independent parties.

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