NAIA-1 restroom overflow 'a minor problem'

MANILA, Philippines - Officials at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 had to close the restrooms at NAIA-1’s arrival area for three hours Saturday after its toilets overflowed due to a clogged drainage pipe.

Dante Basanta, NAIA-1 manager, said clogged pipes still happen sporadically despite the regular declogging operations of the airport’s maintenance contractors.

“It was only a minor problem,” he said, adding that the restrooms were fixed in only three hours.

He said while the restrooms at the NAIA-1 arrival area and at the day room for transients were closed, there were many other restrooms available at the 30-year-old building.

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) had readied a P1.2-billion rehabilitation program for NAIA-1 shortly after the airport was cited as “the world’s worst airport to sleep in” by a website for budget travelers last year.