Passengers at Soekarno-Hatta Airport’s new Terminal 3 were treated to a water fountain show of sorts yesterday, only that it wasn’t actually planned and was quite embarrassing for the management of the new so-called state-of-the-art terminal.
The video above, which has been widely shared on social media since yesterday, shows sewage water forcefully gushing out from a floor of the new terminal, slightly flooding the area. Luckily, according to eyewitness accounts on social media, it happened at the passenger drop off and pick up area outside of the terminal rather than on the inside.
The airport’s management firm PT Angkasa Pura II confirmed the incident and blamed it on heavy rainfall in the capital yesterday.
“We’re still investigating and analyzing how it happened. Right now we think it’s because the flow of water [in underground pipes] is too large [because of the rain],” said PT Angkasa Pura II Public Relations Manager Haerul Anwar, as quoted by Kompas yesterday.
Soekarno-Hatta’s Senior General Manager, M Suriawan Wakan, said there are possibilities that the sewage water burst because of trash build up in the pipes or because of the ongoing construction work nearby.
Terminal 3 officially opened for domestic service on August 9, following a two-month delay after it failed to meet the Transportation Ministry’s operational requirements. Since it opened, it has been beset with problems related to maintenance, such as a power failure last week that contributed to the delays of 38 flights and issues related to cleanliness like the one pointed out by actress Sophia Latjuba:
Dear Angkasa Pura, this is a new toilet in a new terminal, it’s extraordinarily filthy (the toilets can’t be flushed). There are floods outside the terminal and inside too. Waited for baggage for more than two hours. It’s quite anarchic with the number of people outside. If Terminal 3 is not ready to be operational, then don’t open it now.
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