Address Issues Of Disasters Without Unnecessary Comparisons

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THE Association for Welfare, Community and Dialogue (ACID) is deeply concerned about the gas pipeline inferno at Putra Heights that has caused damage to homes and injured residents who live within its vicinity.
The fire was caused by a leak in a Petronas gas pipeline, with flames reportedly stretching up to 500 metres and visible from several kilometres away. The blast wreaked havoc across the neighbourhood, severely damaging nearly 200 homes.
The disaster seems to have a structural element of injustice which Petronas and the Selangor state government should account for.
Structural injustice is a form of injustice that does not stem from individuals treating one another unjustly but rather from large scale social structures and processes that create systemic disadvantages for large groups of people.
Gas pipelines approved and installed in zones where there are houses is an unsafe act, besides the possibility of poor preventive maintenance of the pipeline. These are decisions and processes that were disadvantageous to people living in the area.
It is hoped that authorities investigating the tragedy would do so with truth and accountability in mind that addresses every aspect of the disaster.
Having said that, one has to keep in mind that when any disasters take place there are various opinions on what should have been done, with some going on a charity mode and while others use the disaster as an opportunity to score political points that lights up the political terrain.
What makes it difficult to digest is when people compare the charity for victims of Putra Heights disaster with that of people living on foreign soil who are targets of bombs – a flawed comparison that darkens the clarity on the types of sufferings that people go through.
To address issues of disasters, it is vital to view the situation as it is in reality and act competently through the context by coming up with comprehensive solutions and actions for victims of disaster besides ensuring such man-made disasters does not happen elsewhere.
The people on the ground who intend to be charitable should be given the space to act with solidarity to meet the urgent needs of the people, and the outcome of how resources have been distributed or other aspects of developmental flaws could be addressed later in the state assembly or Parliament.
The immediate needs of disaster victims are critical and whoever in the public who is willing to support them should not be contaminated with self-serving political agendas that tend to compare aid to other communities whose sufferings are of a different dimension.
Therefore let’s address the issues related to the pipeline disaster at Putra Heights without unnecessary comparison.
Ronald Benjamin is a human resources practitioner based in Ipoh. He is currently secretary of the Association for Community and Dialogue.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT.
- Focus Malaysia.

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