THERE were fears there could be another explosion, similar to one in  2014, on Petronas’ Sarawak-Sabah gas pipeline (SSGP) in Lawas,  Sarawak, after a leak was reported at Long Luping.

The 512km long pipeline transports gas from the Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal in Kimanis, Sabah to the Petronas complex in Bintulu for conversion into liquefied natural gas.

About 422km of the pipeline run in Sarawak.

The Fire and Rescue Services Department reported a team was also dispatched to Merarap, about 8km from Long Luping, a settlement about 70km from Lawas town.

Petronas in a statement confirmed a gas leak occurred and that it was detected at 2.24am today.

“Our emergency response team was mobilised and has put the situation under control. All relevant authorities have been informed,” the national petroleum company stated in a statement.

Petronas said the surrounding communities and the environment were unaffected by the leak, and that an investigation was underway.

Ba Kelalan assemblyman Baru Bian pinpointed the leak to be at Meringau in Long Luping.

Baru, who is also Sarawak PKR chairman, is demanding a thorough investigation into the leak and hoped to get a briefing from Petronas soon.

“As this is the second time a leakage had occurred, I am very concerned. So are the people in that area,” said Baru, who was informed of the leak, by one of his staff in Lawas last night.

“I understand that Petronas security personnel have been sent to the area around Long Meringau, near Long Luping.”

While Petronas said the leak was detected at 2.24am, the Lawas Fire and Rescue Services Department said they received a call at 2.20am reporting a gas pipeline leak in Merarap and Long Luping.

The department said a call came from Petronas technical officer “Encik Maxwell” reporting that that five “valve houses” had been shut at Long Sukang and more “valve houses” would need to be shut down.

The Borneo Post reported there was panic in Long Luping in the early hours of this morning as residents of the settlement “scrambled to safety”.

Eighty boarders from SK Long Luping were ordered to be evacuated immediately.

Martin Singa, 61, who lives about 500 metres from the pipeline in Long Meringau, told the news portal that he heard a “loud explosion” around 1.30am.

“I smelt strong gas  before I heard the loud explosion. The sound was so loud, like a plane had crashed,” he was quoted saying.

As the smell was getting stronger, Singa and his wife fled in their car drove to the main road.

“Both of us felt dizzy. We then went straight to SK Long Luping about three kilometres away to inform the school,” Singa  said.

The couple have since sought treatment for breathing difficulty at the Long Semadoh clinic.

Petronas has denied there was an explosion.

In June 2014, a pre-dawn explosion in Bukit Beriwen, about 20km from Lawas town, could be heard in Temburong, Brunei and as far as Sipitang in Sabah.

No one was hurt in the explosion which had occurred in a little-populated area. The closest settlement is 9km away. It, however, scorched a large swath of jungle.

The pipeline is routed southwest from Kimanis to go around Temburong and Brunei proper before heading northwest to Bintulu.

Although routed through relatively sparsely populated Lawas and Limbang, Baru is concerned because there were still about 2,000 people living near the pipeline.

“It passes close to many villages, including my village at Brunut,” he said.

Deputy Chief Minister Awang Tengah Ali Hassan, responding to questions raised by Baru in the state legislative assembly in 2015, said the 2014 explosion was most likely caused by “soil movement which affected the integrity of the pipeline at the site”.

Baru had then demanded that the findings of the investigation into the explosion be made public and the assurance “that this kind of explosion will not recur”.

The findings were never made public, nor was the assurance ever given. – January 10, 2018.