MAB APOLOGISES FOR THE KKIA BLACKOUT

BRIEFING....Malaysia Airport Berhad Senior General Manager, Dato’ Azmi Murad (2nd from right) briefing the State Cabinet at Wisma Innoprise.

6,000 PASSENGERS were stranded at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) when the runaway light malfunctioned for two days recently.

During a briefing to the State Cabinet by MAB Chairman Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad Abdul Majid and its Senior General Manager, Dato’ Azmi Murad at Wisma Innoprise today, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Haji Aman said the government is extremely concerned about such an occurrence.

"This is not good for the government, for Sabah and certainly not good for MAB. MAB must take proactive steps to ensure such an incident will not ever happen again," he said.

The Sabah State Cabinet wants Malaysia Airport Berhad (MAB) to immediately resolve any problem associated with Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) including the causes of the blackout of its runaway lights.

“I do understand that MAB is not entirely to blame, but MAB should also have been more prepared in responding to this type of situation. Those stranded must be updated with information and not  left in the dark. At the very least they should be provided with drinking water,” he said.

Bashir told the State Cabinet that the KKIA runaway had to be shut down because of safety reasons.

“MAB followed every procedure in responding to the incident. We, however, do apologise for not being able to respond fast enough,” he said.

He also assured the State Cabinet that MAB would do its utmost to rectify the runaway lighting situation and any shortcomings at KKIA immediately. (Insight Sabah)