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Completion date of Doppler Tower uncertain
$20M already lost , another $34M expended at new location so far
The Doppler Tower
By Tusika Martin
Just under $20M have been swept under the carpet as another $34M have been spent on the relocation of the Doppler radar tower at Timehri, which is still some distance away from its February completion date.
Coordinating Director of the Caribbean Meteorological Organisation, Terrence Sutherland, had announced that the radar was expected to be installed and tested this month.
However, while some of the equipment for the radar is in Guyana, it is yet to be installed, since the contracting company is still to complete some civil works.
When asked about the project, during a press conference yesterday, Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud said that completion of the project is dependent on the contractor, Courtney Benn Contracting Company.
“Civil works have been completed close to 95 percent, and they are in the process of doing installation and inner works, so that there can be a very functional radar facility; but the components are in Guyana and ready to be installed,” Persaud said.
Kaieteur News had reported that the construction of the building to house the Doppler weather system was too close to the airport’s Very High Frequency Omni Range (VOR), thus causing disruption.
It was stressed that once the wrong reading is transmitted to an aircraft, it could throw a pilot off course, with serious consequences.
After much controversy and the loss of millions of dollars, a new location was selected for the tower in mid-2007.
This newspaper was told that technical staff members confirmed that the new location is at least 1500 feet from the VOR.
Since the discovery was made, the Office of the President took over the investigation to determine who should be held accountable for the money that was spent.
One director from the GCAA was dismissed, but President Bharrat Jagdeo had announced that the matter will not be ‘swept under the carpet.’
Almost a year later, Persaud is saying he is sure that the Office of the President (OP) would have conducted a through investigation.
He pointed out that OP would have concluded where the Civil Aviation Authority was not too precise in its advice to the other agencies that were executing the project.
However, the one director who was dismissed is the person who made the discovery of the possible interference.
“I am not sure who or what responsibilities that person had, and what role he had to play in that. Our concern was that we wanted to move ahead with the project, it has delayed the project and it cost tremendous inconvenience for us,” Persaud told the media yesterday.
Upon completion, the Doppler radar will be used to provide continuous real-time radar surveillance up to 400 kilometres out, and will help forecasters define with greater accuracy the areas where severe weather is likely to form, identify the characteristic patterns indicating a high probability of severe thunderstorms, and improve forecasting time, intensity, and location of heavy precipitation.
The project is funded by the European Union to the tune of $596M, and is being implemented by the Caribbean Meteorological Organisation.
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