WET GOOD-BYES The dripping ceiling of a walkway at the departure area of the (supposedly) newly renovated Naia Terminal 1 is temporarily remedied by tarpaulins to keep passengers dry, in this photo taken on June 1. Jeannette I. Andrade
When it rained in Pasay City Wednesday night, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 1 no longer needed pails or tarpaulins to catch water dripping from the ceiling.
DM Consunji Inc., the contractor for the P1.3-billion Terminal 1 rehabilitation project, completed early Wednesday its structural retrofitting of the departure concourses, allowing waterproofing works to proceed, according to an airport official.
Naia Terminal 1 manager Dante Basanta said DMCI finished the installation of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets over the east and west concourses of the departure area.
“DMCI assured us that the incident last week will not happen again,” Basanta told the Inquirer, referring to the leaks in two departure concourses that inconvenienced passengers Wednesday last week. The travelers then had to be assisted by umbrella-holding airline employees to get to the preboarding areas.
“It rained last night (Wednesday) and the ceiling did not leak anymore. The waterproofing of the concourse proceeded immediately after DMCI finished the structural retrofitting,” the official added.
The waterproofing component of Naia 1 improvements is actually handled by JEDD Technologies under a P60-million contract, but when DMCI earlier started retrofitting work on the 30-year-old terminal, the old waterproofing works were affected and remedial measures proved inadequate when it rained on May 27.
The leaks not only drenched the carpeted walkways and areas inside airline lounges but also damaged electronic equipment at the Philippine Airport Ground Support Services office.