Selangor Opposition Reps Skip Private Briefing On Putra Heights Gas Blast

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State PN chief whip Azmin Ali says the group skipped the briefing, held at 4.30pm today, as a sign of protest.Selangor PN chief whip Azmin Ali said the opposition assemblymen will actively take part in tomorrow’s sitting when menteri besar Amirudin Shari is scheduled to provide an official explanation of the incident.PETALING JAYA: All 21 opposition Selangor assemblymen boycotted a closed-door special briefing today on the gas pipeline explosion in Putra Heights last April
Selangor Perikatan Nasional chief whip Azmin Ali said the group skipped the briefing, held at 4.30pm, as a sign of protest.
Sinar Harian quoted him as saying the state government had failed to handle the incident with transparency and accountability.
However, he said, they would actively take part in tomorrow’s sitting, when menteri besar Amirudin Shari is expected to provide an official explanation on the incident.
“Why was the briefing held behind closed doors? Where are the principles of accountability and transparency? The victims are still waiting for answers,” Azmin told a press conference after today’s sitting of the assembly.
“What happened to the heavy machinery that was supposedly buried at the blast site, as previously claimed by the menteri besar?
“If a weak ground was truly the main cause, then similar incidents could happen elsewhere.
“We have documents and evidence. Many parts of the technical report are unclear. This issue must be debated openly in the assembly, not confined to a closed room.”
The department of occupational safety and health said that parts of the gasline in Putra Heights had failed because the ground underneath was not strong enough to support the weight and pressure inside the pipe.
The department found that cyclic loading had left stress lines and fatigue striations on the surface of the pipe in Putra Heights, with the damage slowly spreading.

This caused ductile failure which led to the leakage of gas, triggering the fire.
Amirudin previously said his remarks about an excavator being buried at the site of the explosion were twisted by critics of the state government.
He had said that no excavators were found during his first visit to the blast site, a remark that some PAS assemblymen interpreted as him denying that the blast was caused by nearby construction activities.
However, police later confirmed the discovery of an excavator at the site, likely due to the massive crater caused by the explosion.
Azmin, who is also the Selangor PN chairman, stressed the need for the state government to present a full, unedited report on the incident along with a comprehensive white paper. - FMT

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