Postgres 8.3.10 Alter Table Waiting issue

I am trying to add column to the table that's hanging.

alter table hr_firms add column_name biginit;

This is the lock I see in the db

 relation      |   564709 | 586888   |      |       |            |               |         |       |          | 1/8                | 1871 | AccessExclusiveLock | f

Version of postgres: 8.3.10 

Is it known issue or any fix available?

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With Warm Regards,

Pratheeban .T