Jakarta Globe, Rahmat & Putri Prameshwari | September 19, 2010
Makassar. Indonesia’s already much-derided airport network received another blow over theweekend as the international airport in Makassar found itself underwater .
Departuredrop off - Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport |
Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport, the main gateway to the eastern half of the country and one of five airports being prepared for inclusion in the Asean OpenSkies scheme, was flooded in up to half a meter of water until Saturday following heavy rains on Friday.
Airport operator Angkasa Pura I, which manages airports in Indonesia’s east, said a 2.5 kilometer storm drain that was supposed to carry rainwater away overflowed after particularly heavy rain.
The result was ankle-deep flooding in three of the airport’s waiting rooms, as wellas in the international departure lounge.
The airport’sapron was also flooded in up to 30 centimeters of water, while the airport’s basement bore the brunt of the inundation with 50 centimeters of water.
Purwanto,the general manager for Angkasa Pura I’s Makassar office, said the storm drain could not cope with the heavy rain. “The airport wasn’t designed to take a huge amount of water,” he said. “We have four water pumps, but we couldn’t use anyof them because the water volume was too high.”
Officials declined to state how many flights were affected.
The flooding also forced airport authorities to turn off the electricity to several sections of the terminal building, adding to passengers’ inconvenience.
Hakamuddin Jamal, an Angkasa Pura I commissioner present at the airport at the time, acknowledged that the incident “embarrassed” them.
“This isone of Indonesia’s biggest and most luxurious airports,” he said.
The airport said it would be adding more storm drains next month as well as repairing the roof and the network of drains running beneath the terminal in abid to prevent more flooding.
The flooding happened a day after the country’s main gateway, the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, suffered a second blackout in as many months.
However,Tri Sunoko, director of Angkasa Pura II, which manages airports in the western part of Indonesia, said that Friday’s two-minute blackout did not disrupt flights or passenger services .
“Reports that up to 112 flights were delayed are not true,” Angkasa Pura II corporate secretary Harry Cahyono said.
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