Tuesday 16 October 2012

‘WATERFALL’ AT THE PENANG AIRPORT





REPAIR.....Workers repair the plaster ceiling of the Penang International Airport after it gave way when water overflowed from the gutters to the ceiling.

By : OPALYN MOK

GEORGE TOWN : Parts of the plaster ceiling at the arrival hall of the Penang International Airport came crashing down early this morning, injuring an employee.

In the 8.10am incident, several portions of the plaster ceiling near the Malaysia Airlines ticketing office and the KL Airport Services (KLAS) office gave way as gallons of water poured down from the ceiling.

A KLAS worker was injured when parts of the ceiling fell on her and she has been sent to the Penang Hospital for observation.

About 100 Malaysia Airport Berhad (MAB) staff members immediately cleared up the mess and cordoned off the area.

“The staff was not seriously injured, she’s just been sent to the hospital for check-up and observation,” said MAB senior manager Mohd Arif Jaafar.

“This portion is still under construction and we are upgrading the gutters in the ceiling.”

He said the unusually heavy downpour caused the gutters to overflow and the water flowed to the ceiling.

“The water pooled at the ceiling and this caused the ceiling to give way,” he added.

Mohd Arif said the MAB will be taking preventive measures as it is now the rainy season.

“We will find a way for faster water dispersal from the gutters so that it won’t overflow again,” he said.

The MAB personnel cleaned up the area by 9.30am, but the section was still cordoned off.

The airport is currently undergoing a RM250 million upgrading work to double the floor space from 27,500 square metres to 52,000 square metres.

This will increase the airport capacity from 3.5 million to five million passengers annually.

Work started in 2010 and the initial completion date was June this year but it was delayed till November 24.

The expansion will also increase the number of aircraft parking bays, immigration, Customs and security screening counters, increase in baggage reclaim carousels, more public seating, more public toilets and increased car parking space from 1,200 bays to 2,000 bays.

The upgraded airport will also feature inline baggage screening and a segregation of international and domestic passengers, both at the arrival and departure halls.

In an immediate response, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said Mohd Arif had already given him a short report on the incident.

“He told me it happened in between the old and the new part of the building, that’s why the water leaked,” he said.

“At the rate that they are going, it does not look like the upgrading works are going according to schedule so I don’t know if they are able to fully complete it by November 24,” Lim said.

He also said there was only 30mm rainfall this morning which did not cause any flooding anywhere in the state so it did not make sense that it was “flooded” inside the airport due to the leakage.

“The MAB head office’s project director should come up here to conduct regular inspections and to monitor the project,” he said.

He also urged Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha to come to the airport and see for himself the condition of the upgrading work.

“We do not want the RM250 million to go down the drain. We want a good international airport that we all can be proud of, not something to be ashamed of like today’s incident,” he said.

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