THE operator of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) said the flooding at the Terminal 2 on July 31 was caused by its contractor’s failure to follow the original design for the gutter system.
“The contractor had incorrectly installed the gutter system that was designed for the Link Bridge. This is the reason for the Link Bridge and Drop-off Zone being unduly exposed to rain,” GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC) said in a statement on Thursday.
The consortium of Megawide Construction Corp. and Indian company GMR Infrastructure Ltd. is the government’s concessionaire for the MCIA.
GMCAC said it only discovered the faulty installation in mid-July, and the heavy rains affected the on-going construction to correct this.
The company said a heavy downpour on July 31 caused what it called “a slight overflow of rainwater” in the Link Bridge, which lasted for less than one hour.
“Once the gutter installation is corrected, the rainwater from the Link Bridge canopy will be connected back to the rain water drainage system. In effect, this will solve the exposure of Link Bridge and its Drop-Off zone to rain water,” the company said.
It noted 80% of the problem will already have been resolved within the week with the measures currently being done, and targeted to be completed by August 20.
“(Megawide-GMR) is committed to a swift resolution. These are quicker than usual timelines considering the heavy rains that Cebu has been experiencing for the past few days,” it added.
The MCIA Terminal 2 was inaugurated in June and started exclusively servicing international flights on July 1. The P17.5-billion expansion of the airport was the biggest public-private partnership (PPP) project awarded during the previous administration. — Denise A. Valdez
