Thursday April 12, 2007
Leaking pipe brings Immigration HQ to a halt
By V.P. SUJATA
PUTRAJAYA: A burst pipe caused havoc at the seven-storey RM200mil Immigration Department headquarters here, resulting in the suspension of daily operations.
The incident, which has been blamed on poor workmanship and maintenance, was detected at about 8.30am yesterday.
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Pouring in Putrajaya...water falling from the ceiling at the fifth floor of the Immigration Department headquarters. The massive pipe leak on the seventh floor caused the department’s services to be suspended. – DARRAN TAN/The Star |
The ceiling on the fifth floor also collapsed due to the weight of the water.
The computer system and the main server which were housed on the fifth floor were not damaged.
Even if they had been damaged, a back-up of the records could still be found at the Shah Alam branch.
Wahid said that as a precautionary measure, power supply to the building was cut off to prevent a short-circuit.
“Security guards heard a loud noise at about 7pm yesterday (on Tuesday) but a check by the maintenance staff found nothing wrong.
“Then, the control room system detected a power trip at 2am on the 7th floor. The water seepage, however, was only detected about 8.30am.
“Clean up work is being carried out around the clock but I cannot confirm whether operations will resume tomorrow (today).
“The floors have to be dried first before electricity supply is restored to the building,” he added when met at the building yesterday.
Wahid said some 600 Immigration staff from the headquarters would be redeployed to branches in Kajang, Shah Alam, Subang, Wangsa Maju, and Pusat Bandar Damansara to service the expected increase in the number of applicants.
“On average, more than 3,000 people come to the headquarters daily for various transactions,” he added.
Wahid also said that some 150 foreign nationals being held at the department’s lock-up on the ground floor had been moved to Immigration depots in Semenyih and the KL International Airport.
Related Stories:
Poor design and shoddy work blamed
PAC: What happened?
USEFUL LINKS:
Immigration Department of Malaysia
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