Monday proved to be a testing day for eateries located at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, as they found themselves operating without a steady supply of water.

The airport’s terminals suffered water disruptions like many other areas in the Klang Valley due to Tenaga Nasional Bhd’s (TNB) maintenance work at the Bukit Badong substation.

Ravinder Singh, 52, who is a brand manager of a franchised restaurant, said it was “a ridiculous time” for the water to be cut, especially since he was given so little notice.

“This is the busiest part of the year and we go through this.

“So for us, it’s a big mess because we have an espresso machine and without water, there is not enough pressure so we have to switch the espresso machine off. So, no hot drinks at all,” he said.

He added that quite a few customers were annoyed that they were unable to order hot drinks.

“Other vendors can still boil water and make coffee but we can’t because our coffee comes from the mains,” Ravinder said.

It was not only hot drinks that were off the menu. All food items that needed water, such as curry mee and laksa, could not be prepared as well.

Ravinder said sales dropped by almost 40% in a day.

He said he had no choice but to use bottled water to cook rice.

Furthermore, without running water, he had to serve food in takeaway containers.

“It was embarrassing,” he said.

But now that the water is back on, albeit with a lower pressure, it will be business as usual at Ravinder’s restaurant.

Roy, 28, who works as a barista at the terminal, said his cafe was also affected.

He had to rush out and buy about 10 bottles of 6-litre mineral water from a supermarket to make beverages.

“Sometimes there is water and sometimes there isn’t. So, it was difficult,” he said.

Even when there was tap water, it was not clean, Roy said, adding that brewing with bottled water was expensive but he had no choice.

However, not all vendors at the airport were caught flatfooted.

Restaurant supervisor Cho Cho, 32, said her manager informed her of the shortage on Sunday night.

“We stored some water in barrels we bought over the weekend with water from home,” she said.

“We hailed a taxi to bring the water here. What else could we do?”

Source:
courtesy of THE STAR

by DANIAL ALBAKRI, RAZAK AHMAD, HEMANANTHANI SIVANANDAM, andRAHIMY RAHIM

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