DOT confident on airport terminal 2 repairs

The Department of Tourism (DOT-7) regional office said it is confident that the flooding at the passenger drop-off zone at Terminal 2 (T2) of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport won’t turn away passengers.

“I’m not worried. I’ve considered it as part of the birth spans,” Regional DOT-7 Director Shalimar Hofer Tamano said.

Tamano admitted he noticed during an initial inspection that water outflow would occur inside the terminal’s passenger drop-off zone and the link bridge, especially during a heavy downpour.

“I’ve heard that they are putting a sort of a curtain (in order to address the problem), they can easily do that,” he said. He said he is confident that the contractor can fix the outflow in a few weeks.

“Their engineers are world class, I guess they can handle that,” he said. A photo of the flooded terminal 2 circulated in social media and drew negative comments from netizens.

“I think that’s only because of our pride. The comments were not really intended to attack (airport operator GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp.). This will just pass,” Tamano said.

In a press statement, GMCAC said their teams cleaned up the water overflow at the link bridge of the terminal’s drop-off zone and examined the drainage system on site. GMCAC apologized to passengers for the incident.

“Unfortunately, GMCAC only noticed in mid-July that the installed gutters did not meet the actual design. The company began corrective work but continuous heavy rains in Cebu slowed down construction,” they said. GMCAC said they will finish repairs on or before Aug. 20.