SUBANG JAYA — The Subang Jaya City Council (MBSJ) has confirmed receiving a complaint about excavation work at the site of the Putra Heights gas pipeline fire before the explosion on April 1.
However, a check on the site following the complaint found that “everything was in order”, said Mayor Datuk Amirul Azizan Abd Rahim.
He said the complaint was received through the city council’s online public complaints system, SISPA, although he could not recall the date.
Upon receiving the complaint, MBSJ’s officers visited the area to examine the excavation work and found that “everything was in order, and a permit was in place”.
“We even informed the complainant that those works were done with a permit,” he said in a press conference chaired by Selangor police chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan. Incident Control Post at Jalan Putra Harmoni 1/3, here, today.
Amirul also reiterated that the contractors followed the stipulated guidelines, and a permit was issued by the city council for them to excavate its reserve road that passes a right of way (ROW) for Petronas.
“Petronas had also issued a permit for works in the ROW,” he added.
Amirul’s confirmation of the complaint comes after Scoop’s earlier report on Putra Heights residents who accused MBSJ of approving a shoplot project near their homes without proper groundwork.
Those interviewed said they had lodged official complaints about the project with MBSJ in 2023, while one resident said he complained several times since last year about excavation on a gas reserve.
On the same day after the gas pipeline fire, Amirul confirmed that the development project had received planning approval from the city council in 2022. He also said that the project was in order as it was not located on Petronas’ ROW itself.
The mayor added that Petronas had granted permission for the use of its ROW for sewerage facilities.
The gas pipeline fire, which occurred at 8.10am on Tuesday, April 1, saw a fireball rise over 30m high, with temperatures reaching 1,000 degrees Celsius. It took nearly eight hours to be fully extinguished by 3.45pm.
The explosion displaced 1,254 people from 308 families and completely destroyed 87 houses. – April 6, 2024