PETALING JAYA: It is painful for book lovers to see thousands of books lying in a huge pile by the roadside after the floods.
But for BookXcess co-founder Andrew Yap, the pain goes beyond the heart-breaking sight.
It has hurt his pockets as well because two to three million books were damaged after being submerged in floodwaters at the Big Bad Wolf warehouse and BookXcess @ Wolf House bookstore in Section 33, Shah Alam.
The 200,000sq ft warehouse stored about 10 million books, said Yap, who estimated the loss at RM13 million.
“We’re still tabulating (the amount). It could be even more,” Yap told theSun.
“All our machinery is down. We need to purchase replacements. Our cargo lifts, wrapping and pallet-making machines don’t work any more.
“We can buy small machines but they are too slow. Certain events that we are planning in the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Saudi Arabia require 1.5 million books. We can’t possibly process the number of books (needed) with all the (small) machines.”
He hopes that operations at the warehouse would resume by the end of January.
“Currently, we are relying on a large generator. It costs about RM15,000 a day, depending on how much fuel we use. Tenaga Nasional Bhd said it doesn’t know when exactly it can restore power to us.
“We think it can be a week, or longer. A lot of things are still up in the air. It is frustrating.”
Yet, Yap feels the financial blow he suffered pales in comparison to losses of other flood victims.
“The loss of the books is nothing compared with someone’s home or life. Every man’s house is his castle. What we’re suffering from is a man-made disaster. Shah Alam is a developed city.”
He urged parents living near the warehouse not to salvage the books.
“The soiled books can pose health hazards. They have mould that can be dangerous to children and adults. What we throw out cannot be salvaged.”
He added the damaged books included those not submerged by floodwaters.
“The humidity of the warehouse rose to three times the normal level. It affected other books that were not wrapped.”
Yap was in Cairo, Egypt, when the floods hit Shah Alam.
“My wife and co-founder Jacqueline Ng was stuck there for three days with 10 staff. I was worried as they didn’t know how long they would be trapped. She had her handphone and power bank. We were communicating. I was in Egypt planning a Big Bad Wolf sale schedule in February and March. I rushed back on Sunday.
“By then, the water was too high for me to go into the area. Everyone stayed without water or electricity at the top floor of the warehouse, which was our home.”
Yap returned to the warehouse on Monday after the water receded.
“We have a huge task at hand to submit insurance claims. We are worried that the worst is yet to come. There’s a report that the weather will change this week.”