POOR design planning and construction errors have rendered the RM650 million new headquarters for the Kuala Lumpur Air Traffic Control Centre (KL ATCC) unusable as the building has not been certified fit for occupation, The Malaysian Insight has learnt.

According to a source, the KL ATCC has not obtained a Certificate of Completion and Compliance (CCC), forcing the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) to delay its original June 17 launch date.

“The CCC had been delayed as there were issues related to the building’s firefighting system,” said a source familiar with the project.

The delay will impact air traffic control for commercial aircraft movements at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), the country’s largest and main international airport with three runways.

The Malaysian Insight has contacted the CAAM but has yet to receive any feedback.

The Malaysian Insight also visited the new facilities in Sepang on Sunday and observed that there was nobody on site, not even the security desk at the front gate.

Designers had initially installed water sprinklers for the 2,000sqm operations room, but that had to be stopped after CAAM officials said this could potentially destroy hundreds of millions of ringgit worth of equipment if the sprinklers were accidentally set off.

“As such, the authorities could not issue any CCC for the building,” said the source.

That was not the only problem with the new facility, which began construction in 2017.

“The original design included adequate soundproofing material to be used for the metal deck roofing, but midway through construction, contractors realised that the structure was unable to support the weight of the roof and further changes were made, resulting in the soundproofing for the operations rooms being compromised.

“The operations room has no columns, so errors like this forced contractors to look for alternative ways to soundproof the room.

“Sound proofing for the operations rooms is crucial as whenever it rains, the noise of raindrops on the metal roof can be very disruptive to the air traffic controllers who will work round-the-clock, concentrating on guiding thousands of flights operating within Malaysian airspace every day. Moreover, the KLIA area has frequent thunderstorms,” said the source.

On June 6, the CAAM announced that the KL ATCC will not begin operations in Sepang, but cited the Covid-19 pandemic as the reason.

“Due to the alarming increase in cases, the CAAM has taken the approach to postpone the operational launch to support the government’s efforts to curb the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The CAAM strongly believes that a rescheduling of the mass migration of an operation centre is required while the country is in a total lockdown. This is in the sole interest of public safety and all air traffic controllers involved,” it said in a statement.

However, the CAAM’s announcement did not state any new launch dates for the new facility.

Once operational, the new facility will enable KL ATCC to handle 108 aircraft movements per hour with the maximum usage of KLIA’s three runways simultaneously.

The project, which began under the Barisan Nasional administration, was set to be operational in 2019 and was meant to replace the Subang facility, which has been operating since 1995.

The complex is aimed at housing the air traffic control operations for the Kuala Lumpur Flight Information Region as well as the central co-ordination centre for the CAAM’s search and rescue system.

The new KL ATCC will also be an administrative centre and operations management office equipped with facilities such as a theatre, a multipurpose hall and a lounge for air traffic controllers’ comfort. – June 16, 2021.