PUTRAJAYA – The unexpected closure of Putrajaya IOI City Mall today, especially on a public holiday, has left both mall-goers and workers frustrated.
Private sector employee Zeila Aman, 38, expressed her disappointment as her plans for Raya shopping were thwarted by the abrupt closure.
“I arrived at the mall as early as 10am. I went around looking for parking, however, all the entrances to the mall were closed, and no proper explanation was given as to why the parking entrances were closed.
“Then I went back home and took a Grab ride here, only to find out the whole mall is closed. With the announcement from the mall’s management that the mall will resume operation by 1pm, I thought I could wait until 1pm.
“It’s already past 1pm and still the mall is not open,” she told Scoop.
Zeila, who later found out about the closure on Facebook, said the management should have been more effective in disseminating information.
“There is no proper signage or notice. Even the security guards did not inform us about the blackout.
“I came here to buy ‘Baju Raya’ (Raya clothing) for my kids, and luckily I did not bring them along. Or else they would also be waiting outside in this hot weather,” she said.
An employee of the mall, Afiqah Rodzi, said that the mall has been having blackout issues since last night.
“Around 9.30pm last night, there was a power disruption, but it did not last for a long time. The blackout only lasted about 15 minutes. We still managed to do our usual closing and went back home around 10.20pm,” she said.
Norfarhana Effende, 25, who works at a retail store here, said the first blackout occurred when shoppers were still in the mall.
“It happened during closing time; everyone was calm and left the mall,” she said.
Another retail worker, Anisa binti Che Murad, 30, also expressed concerns due to the sudden closure, as she was expecting to meet sales targets today.
“During public holidays, the sales at our store will usually reach up to 50,000, but the management will not take responsibility for the loss of sales today.”
Golden Screen Cinema (GSC) worker Khairul Dzafuan Hasnol, 28, said that the cinema will provide refunds for tickets purchased for today’s screenings until 5pm.
“Some moviegoers have arrived today unaware of the mall’s closure. We are collecting their details and will forward them to headquarters for further processing.
“In regard to sales, we’ve been impacted, particularly given that public holidays typically draw large crowds, compounded by the release of the new film Godzilla x Kong,” he said.
Checks by Scoop at the mall today also saw that all entrances had been closed leaving many shoppers around the mall clueless and unhappy.
The mall’s management said the Putrajaya IOI City Mall will remain closed today as Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) may require additional time to resolve the power outage issue.
Earlier today, it was reported that the mall was facing a blackout due to a power outage and would resume operations between 1pm and 5pm.
It is believed that the outage occurred at 12.45am this morning due to a power disruption at the TNB plant, which supplies power to the mall. – March 28, 2024