HAZARD: Clogged drains in the carpark increase the risk of mosquito-bred diseases as well as the danger of flooding as water runoffs from torrential downpours have no place to go.
KUCHING: The steel-and-glass encased Kuching International Airport (KIA) has been praised for its modern and clean facilities but the same cannot be said of its carpark area which is drawing more brickbats than bouquets for its landscaping maintenance and design.
With this year marking the state’s 50th anniversary celebration as well as designated as ‘Visit Malaysia Year’, it is certain that the last thing the state wants is to give visitors a bad impression the moment they land at KIA.
Acting on a public tip-off, thesundaypost visited the airport carpark yesterday and found that the landscaping was inconsistent at best, unsafe at worst.
Landscaped areas located in front of the main airport terminal building appeared better cared for, but flowering spider lily plants and decorative shrubs had to jostle for position amongst the weeds and overgrown ‘lalang’ (grass blades).
Shin-high grass growth indicated that it has been quite some time since the lawn last had a good mow.
Inexplicably, part of the pedestrian pathway had been cleared of infringing grass shoots, but the rest remained overgrown – the clearing work seemingly abandoned halfway.
Further away from the terminal building, hedges of flowering Ixora plants were getting choked by towering blades of ‘lalang’ five feet tall.
In one of the motorcycle parking areas and in the carpark near the taxi drivers’ resthouse, at least 25 full garbage bags of cut grass lay uncollected.
In other areas, the tall grass had been cut but left to rot where they fell.
Some of the metal sewer covers were missing and at least one of the big drains was blocked with rubbish and growing shrubs.
UNSAFE: Missing sewer covers and clogged drains make navigating the sidewalk a hazardous encounter.
“To be honest, when I come to the airport, I don’t normally think about the landscaping as it is not attractive at all,” said 36-year old accountant Lim Hui Ching, when met at the KIA carpark yesterday.
“There doesn’t appear to be a coherent concept overall. The management should look into making sure the landscaping is designed and maintained properly and professionally.”
Another visitor, 30-year-old teacher Hazlinah Jandih thought the landscaping was alright, but there was room for improvement as the design was very simple.
“To improve, there should be a wider variety of flowering shrubs and other decorative plants planted around the area. Perhaps the management could also consider creating an outdoor garden where the public can go to relax and rest.
“Not every traveller likes waiting inside the airport building,” she suggested.
PUZZLING: The partially cleared pedestrian walkway.
A taxi driver said that on Jan 18, a group of taxi drivers and Malaysia Airports Berhad staff had conducted a small ‘gotong-royong’ to clean up certain areas around the taxi drivers’ resthouse located at the far corner of the airport’s carpark.
“Even though the landscaping is supposed to be under Malaysia Holdings Airports Berhad (MAHB), we have to take it on ourselves to cut the long grass and clear the clogged drains near the resthouse.
“Otherwise, the resthouse will get flooded whenever there is a heavy downpour because the drainage is not very good. We also want to avoid breeding mosquitoes,” said the taxi driver who declined to be named.