KUALA LUMPUR: As the school session is set to resume next week, victims of the gas pipeline fire in Putra Heights, Subang Jaya, are appealing to the authorities to provide transportation for their children to and from their educational institutions.
This is because many victims' vehicles were damaged by the blast and intense heat from last Tuesday's fire (April 1), with temperatures reaching 1,000 degrees Celsius.
One of the victims and a father of three, Norshahrizan Rosli, 39, said such assistance would help ease the burden of affected parents, who are already overwhelmed managing the aftermath of the incident, including the stress of dealing with damaged homes.
"Yesterday, we received two sets of school uniforms and a pair of shoes for each child from Yayasan Islam Darul Ehsan. This has helped a little since we still can't re-enter our house.
"If possible, let the children return to school and continue their daily routine as usual. Let the parents handle the situation here," the frozen food trader told Bernama at the temporary evacuation centre at Putra Heights Mosque on Saturday (April 5).
Another victim, Nabila Johar, 36, expressed hesitation in sending her daughter to school due to worries that the child might be overwhelmed with questions regarding the incident.
However, she agreed that a transportation service should be provided to ease the burden on parents.
The marketing officer said her 10-year-old daughter usually went to school with a neighbour. However, the neighbour was injured and her vehicle was severely damaged in the incident, making it difficult to send her child to school.
Noraini Aziz, 40, said the investigation into the incident should be expedited so that residents whose homes were not severely damaged could return to retrieve essential items. This would help her children, who are in Form Four and Year Five, to resume their schooling as usual.
"At the same time, I hope the government won't forget those of us sheltering with families. Some assistance has been delayed due to a lack of information," she said. – Bernama
