ÿÈÕ´óÈü

SEPANG (Aug 28): Terminal 2 of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) was struck by a power blackout on Thursday, and Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook described it as completely unacceptable as it affects the country's image.

The incident occurred while Loke was at Terminal 2 for the launch of "Tap, Travel and Discover" by gateway@klia2.

He said in the public transport sector, any technical disruption lasting more than 15 minutes is considered a major disruption, especially at the country's main gateway.

"As usual, I arrived [at the event] 15 minutes early. I arrived at 2.10pm, but the programme could not commence until 2.35pm. I found that there was a power outage that lasted almost 20 minutes.

"What happened was unacceptable," he said.

Loke said he found that many electrical systems were not working, with the terminal going dark and escalators stalled, although the information boards were still working.

"Things like these give a very bad image to our country. The backup system should be working, but why was it not activated? There must be answers," he said.

Loke said he had instructed the management of ÿÈÕ´óÈü Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) and gateway@klia2 to prepare a full report within 24 hours and present the cause of the outage.

"I have a Cabinet meeting tomorrow (Friday), and a post-Cabinet (Ministry of Transport) meeting in the afternoon, and I do not want to hear any excuses or accusations. I want a solution and a guarantee that this matter will not happen again," he said.

Earlier on Thursday, an electrical outage caused congestion in the escalator area and disrupted activities at shopping premises.