By RIEL MAJOR

Tribune Staff Reporter

rmajor@tribunemedia.net

TRANSPORT Minister Renward Wells said yesterday that operations at the Post Office continued with minimal impact after a broken valve caused mail and employees to be showered with water.

In a statement, officials from the Ministry of Transport and Local Government said at 9.45am a fault in the pipeline of the newly upgraded fire prevention system resulted in water being released in the mail sorting area of the General Post Office (GPO) at Town Centre Mall.

“Prior to the GPO occupying the premises, the sprinkler system was successfully tested for adequacy and integrity,” the statement said. “Subsequent to that test, it was determined even though the existing system was acceptable, a more modern and reliable sprinkler system was desirable. With the new installation, the contractor today advised that, upon conducting hydrostatic tests, the pressure caused the two pipes to separate at its coupling,”

The breach did result in water damage to a limited amount of mail and wet some of the employees.

“The pressure valve was immediately shut down. The landlord and contractor worked fastidiously to repair the fault and the integrity of the system has now been assured. The affected mail has been dried."

“It is critical to note that members of the public whose mail has been affected are being notified individually. At inspection, there is superficial damage to the packaging of items; however, it is unlikely that contents have been damaged.”

The statement noted the facility was functioning with little impact to operations.

Bahamas Public Services Union president Kimsley Ferguson said his main concern was "why they chose to test the line while persons were in the work environment?"

Mr Ferguson, in an interview with reporters inside the Post Office, said: “The only concern that we have moving forward is that the lines that represent the fire extinguishers are going to be operational in the event that there is some sort of fire. We are satisfied that all is well.

“No one was injured, and we are satisfied that the situation is going to be corrected. When I went into the back, I saw some persons wiping down the walls and other persons that were painting to remove the stains from the substance or the water that would have come from the pipes and so that since has been rectified.”

He added: “I would have advised if there is going to be any testing that it’s done while persons are not at work to minimise any chance of anyone being injured. I asked one of the maintenance persons whether or not (the water) was sewerage and he advised that is was not sewerage. However, there was a concern that the water coming from the extinguishers are so black, so I don’t know but I didn’t smell a stench coming from anything I saw in the back.”

Mr Ferguson said he intends to get an update from management about “aspects of this operation that have not been fully completed” to ensure the occupancy certificate is “covering everything".

In the nine-second clip, envelopes can be seen seen wet in a bin on the floor, dark water is seen on the floor and on the walls of the mail sorting room.

A video of the incident's aftermath went viral across social media yesterday, attracting dozens of responses and reactions.

One Facebook user said: “What a shame omg praise the lord no one got hurt. Dr Minnis need to go back and deal with patience the hospital is in need of him…he really can't run this country so sorry to say.”

Another Facebook user said: “So no one decided to inspect the roof for this “new” post office?”

Said another user: “Wow this administration can't get anything right.”