Faulty exit gantry leaves drivers stuck at Bedok Mall
Patrons leaving Bedok Mall in their vehicles on Sunday evening had to rethink their plans after getting stuck because of a faulty gantry at the carpark.
A family who had bought take-away dinner had to eat their meal in the car while waiting to exit.
A woman rushing to the airport was seen talking frantically on her phone.
Another woman who had bought ice-cream said it had all melted.
Ms Mashuri Mohamed, 42, who was caught in the jam, described the commotion she witnessed to The New Paper on Monday.
The gantry system, which automatically deducts parking charges from the CashCard in the car, was down for two hours.
Witnesses who were affected told TNP the carpark has two exit gantries, one of which stopped working. The other had to be manually accessed, with a security guard taking the cashcard from the drivers to place it in the machine. Ms Mashuri said this gantry also eventually broke down.
The clinic assistant, whose husband was driving the car, was stuck for more than an hour. She was worried because her car was low on petrol.
She said: "I told the security guard that they should manually open the gantry and let us through. I got fed up when he said there was nothing he could do.
"If my car had stalled, it was going to be a worse problem for us."
A 35-year-old housewife, who wanted to be known only as Mrs Yeow, said cars entering the carpark were also caught in a jam as the carpark was full. They could not leave the line and had to wait as well.
Mrs Yeow was stuck in the carpark for about 40 minutes with her husband and two children.
She added: "There were people sounding their horns and there was a woman who was shouting at the security guard near the gantry."
Ms Mashuri eventually decided to take matters into her own hands by lifting the barrier herself, receiving cheers.
She said a young girl and her mother then held up the barrier to allow cars to pass through.
In response to queries from TNP, Ms Lun Hwee Hsien, Bedok Mall's centre manager, said the fault occurred at 6.20pm and was resolved about two hours later.
She said: "The fault in our carpark gantry system caused about 50 vehicles to experience delay in exiting. We sincerely apologise to these affected shoppers."
Mrs Yeow said the mall had contacted those who had complained online, offering a refund for any carpark charges paid.
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