PRESENT POINT POWER

Above: The main airport building from the car parks

The Sultan Halim Airport in Alor Star seems to be experiencing the same problems that plagued the MMR2. Cracks have appeared in the RM57 million airport building which was just officially opened in May 5^th last year.

Above: 10 cm Cracks on the floors
Below 20 - 30 cm cracks between walls

The contractor Bina Darul Aman Bhd is a subsidiary of the Kedah State Government and would have to bear the cost of repairs.

Sinking seems to be occurring at the site and the contractor would have to do the repairs according to Malaysia Airports Berhad.

Take a walk around the new building and you cracks everywhere with signs of sinking. Tiles are dislocated and buckling up but no cause for alarm.

However the Airport authorities confirmed that the building is in no danger of collapsing and is normal when the ground is settling in and of course the airport is safe to use especially the runway which is on solid flat ground

The Airport has no Certificate of Fitness and is operating on a temporary CF .

The Menteri Besar of Kedah, Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid paid a surprise visit to the airport to have a first hand knowledge of the situation.

The Menteri Besar "hands on" experience at the airport; looking at the gaps (Above) and lifting a loose tile (Below)

He described the problem as serious which should not occur in the first place and has called for immediate repair works to be done.

“The damage is new and obviously the contractor and Malaysian Airports Berhad should take the necessary steps to repair them. More crucially is to ensure the building is safe to be used after a thorough check and assessment.

Workers were seen doing repairs at the ground

The repairs might take about a month but during this period the airport would be operational as usual. The Menteri Besar stressed the necessary measures be taken to avoid a recurrence.

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