PUTRA HEIGHTS : WHO'S REALLY BURNING?

PUTRA HEIGHTS : WHO'S REALLY BURNING?

By: Khairul Faizi bin Ahmad Kamil

“The case is closed.” That was the tone of the official report on the gas pipeline explosion in Putra Heights on April 1, 2025. The cause? Not sabotage, not human negligence. Just soft soil, climate-induced stress, and… population density. Simple. Convenient. But enough to close the case? Not quite.

This report reads more like a carefully curated narrative of absolution than a transparent, accountable technical explanation. It raises far more questions than answers. And disappointingly, none have been addressed in full.

Who should really be held responsible?

If it's true that underground water accumulation over time led to soil instability, why wasn’t it detected earlier? What is the purpose of geotechnical monitoring systems then? Are our expensive systems just decorative items in corporate brochures?

And “climate pressure” the new catch-all term to avoid naming actual culprits. If climate change now threatens our national infrastructure, are we simply going to sit and wait while pipes, cables, and buildings across Malaysia remain exposed? Where are the mitigation policies? Or are we waiting for another disaster before we act?

Population density? Who approved the development?

Ironically, the public is being subtly blamed for being too many, too dense. But who approved the construction of residential projects on risky land? Isn't that a political and economic decision? This is where town planning has failed when profits trump public safety.

Are contractors and engineers 'innocent'?

When everything is blamed on “soil” and “weather”, professionals with engineering licenses appear almost infallible. Engineers walk free. Consultants walk free. Technical agencies? Utterly silent. Yet, our industry standards are said to be strict or are they only strict on paper?

If we accept these reasons at face value, then the thousands of kilometers of gas pipelines across the country may all be at risk. Homes, schools, hospitals; all potentially sitting atop ticking time bombs.

This is not a ‘closed case’. It’s a wrapped up mess.

The bigger question is: does the government dare release the full technical investigation report to the public? Will there be an independent audit by a body with no links to the involved companies or ministries?

If all of this is buried under a gentle press statement, then the public must brace not only for more explosions but also for an explosion of anger.

Putra Heights is a test. Not just of soil, but of integrity.

Don’t blame just “nature” and “fate”. If this tragedy is brushed off with weather excuses, then we are placing the lives of citizens in the hands of wind and rain. And such politics that washes away responsibility without reform is politics already burning from within.

KFAK