Royal Commission of Inquiry needed for Putra Heights gas pipeline inferno

Tuesday 15 Apr 2025

03 Apr 2025, 02:48 pm

(Bernama filepix)

THERE has been a clarion call for the Madani government to conduct a thorough investigation into the cause of the gas pipeline inferno in Putra Heights, Selangor, which occurred on April 1, 2025.

While the blame game should be avoided at all cost at this juncture, a thorough investigation is highly necessary, so that the party/parties that caused the inferno may assume responsibility for it and in turn be brought to book. It goes without saying that an in-depth investigation is inevitable, and no stone should be left unturned in searching for the truth.

Nevertheless, the primary focus now should be on saving all victims and providing them with all required and necessary assistance. Scoring political mileage out of this national tragedy reflects political immaturity.

This unfortunate tragedy jogs our memory to the Bright Sparklers Sdn Bhd fireworks factory explosion on May 7, 1991, which left an indelible mark on residents of Kampung Baru Sungai Buloh. In the said calamity, things went south when explosive chemicals from an experiment spilt, sparking off fires that rapidly spread to a nearby pile of large firecrackers, known as “bazookas”. The fires were then accompanied by a series of explosions that could be heard and felt as far as 10km away from the factory. Some even likened the Bright Sparklers blast as Malaysia’s version of the Hiroshima bombing. The said fiasco claimed 26 lives and injured 103 people. The factory was razed to the ground, and over 200 residential properties were destroyed or badly damaged.

As of April 2, 2025, it was reported that 305 people were affected in the Putra Heights explosion. This includes 104 who received treatment at various public and private hospitals. To our relief, no deaths have been reported so far, and all victims are reported to be in stable condition, although Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad has said that some had suffered second- or third-degree burns.

While one may expect the police to conduct their investigations in finding the suspects who caused the tragedy, I am of the view that the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) would be proper and appropriate in not only carrying out profound and detailed investigations, but also in providing some useful recommendations and concrete measures, with the aim of ensuring that this kind of calamity will not recur.

Establishing a royal commission in this type of catastrophe is not without precedence. After the infamous Bright Sparklers fireworks factory explosion, the government set up a RCI. And that RCI concluded that Bright Sparklers was responsible for the incident. A slew of positive results also emerged thereafter.

The Fire and Rescue Department’s Hazardous Material Unit Team (Hazmat) that specialises in handling chemicals and radiation was also established after the Bright Sparklers’ incident. Parliament also took a proactive action. It legislated and duly passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994, essentially to highlight how crucial it was for employers to set up a safe working environment for their workers.

In our present case, the gas pipeline, which is located in a residential area in Putra Heights, has become a major concern to many. Assuming that a RCI is duly established, it may, among others, factor in this issue as well.

There is also another dimension to this tragedy which badly needs our deep reflection. Yes, it is on the issue of the environment. As rightly pointed out by some non-governmental organisations, fossil gas pipeline leakages can cause a wide range of short- and long-term health impact. And the global trend seems to be to abandon fossil gas and in turn shift to renewable energy. One cannot agree more with such an observation.

Nonetheless, therein lies the big dilemma faced by many Asean countries, including Malaysia, in making decisions to shift to renewable energy. In my article “Challenges in addressing energy justice in Asean” which was published in a book on Energy Justice, I penned “...in reality, Asean is in fact facing a herculean task in embarking on a low carbon transition i.e. by shifting — in a gradual and piecemeal approach — from fossil fuel to low carbon energy. One of such enormous challenges is the ongoing dilemma of picking and choosing between two major priorities: either to succumb to international pressures by completely moving to renewable energy, thus disregarding the people’s plight, or to maintain the status quo by completely ignoring such international pressures”.

It is hoped there will be light at the end of the tunnel.

Mohamed Hanipa Maidin is a former deputy minister of law.