it's not nice to laugh but this is hilarious
Red faces over big water leak at immigration headquartersPUTRAJAYA - A BURST pipe caused massive water leakage and red faces at the seven-storey Immigration Department headquarters here on Wednesday, resulting in the suspension of operations.
Staff were evacuated and the public was told to visit other department offices for immigration services such as getting new passports.
But operations were almost back to normal yesterday at the RM200 million ($88 million) building, which opened in July 2004.
Public service counters had reopened and operations on the first to fourth floors - which serve members of the public - were fully restored.
Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi yesterday expressed anger at the incident.
'I am very unhappy, very angry. How is it that a new building could face such a problem? Something must be wrong,' he told reporters.
The burst pipe is said to be a result of poor workmanship and maintenance.
The leak on the seventh floor caused water to flow swiftly all the way down to the second floor.
Parts of the fifth floor ceiling collapsed from the weight of the water.
'I am very disappointed and sad that this happened here, of all places, in our head office at Putrajaya,' said the director-general of immigration, Datuk Wahid Don.
Some 600 immigration staff from the headquarters were redeployed to five other branches in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor on Wednesday.
On average, 3,000 members of the public visit the headquarters daily.
Datuk Wahid said some 150 foreign nationals being held at the department's lock-up on the ground floor were moved to immigration depots in two other places because of the water leakage.
He said yesterday: 'I am thankful and satisfied because services to the public had been restored within a short period.'
There was no damage to the computer system in the building but there was some discomfort owing to the smell from the damp carpet.
THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK, BERNAMA