MELAKA MUST ENSURE SECURITY & SAFETY TO MALACCANS AND VISITORS TO MELAKA

During my recent weekend visit my home town in Melaka, I had a very bad experience in a recently opened cineplex . Located on the 5th. floor of the shopping complex, it housed 10 cinema screens for customers to view different movies.

The first thing you will notice on the ticketing level of this new cineplex is the lack of sitting. The whole area was not designed to house a cinema and is not catered for families to see shows at all.

There are no chairs for the elderly to sit and there is ONLY ONE lift and 2 excalators. There is also one fire exit.

My worst fears about the safety and security of the cineplex were justified when the show I attended ended just after mid-night on Saturday, 19th. July 2008.

Patrons who have gone to see their favourite shows at the different cineplexes were not allowed to use the 2 excalators to go down to the ground floor by the security guards. All patrons, young and elderly, were forced to use the fire exit staircase and a small lift catered for 10 persons only. With a minimum of 1000 or more patrons coming out of their cineplexes at about the same time, meant that the safety and security of patrons are being taken for granted. Patrons have to walk at least 5 floors of stairs to go to the groundfloor.

What will happen if there is a fire on the fifth floor? With limited fire escapes and one small lift to cater for rushing patrons, we are just waiting for a disaster to occur. The questions raised here are :-
1. Has the Fire and Safety department done a safety check and who gave the approval for

these cineplexes to be opened? Are there any fire springkler systems installed?

2. Since there is clearly a lack of fire escape exits, has the cineplex owners been notified of these
short comings?

3. Who ordered the security guards to prevent patrons to use the escalators? In fact the

escalators should be changed to going down mode to ensure patrons leave the premises in an

orderly fashion instead of using fire exit only.

As Melaka City has just been given the status of Unesco World Heritage City together with Georgetown in Penang, the authorities in Melaka City must ensure the safety and security of Malaccans and guests to our heritage city.

We want visitors and locals alike to enjoy our city and feel safe while visiting our historical sites, enjoy the shopping and being entertained in various entertainment outlets such as cineplexes and theatres.

Tourism Melaka strongly urge the authorities to audit all the public entertainment centres around our City so that immediate measures can be taken before any unforseen incident occurs.