it's not nice to laugh but this is hilarious 
Red faces over big water leak at
immigration headquarters
PUTRAJAYA - 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
