Doppler radar two months behind schedule testing

May 02, 2009 News

…contractor causes delay

All components of the radar equipment at the Doppler tower have been installed and testing should commence soon.
This is according to Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, who yesterday told Kaieteur News that had it not been for some delay by contractor Courtney Benn, testing would have begun already.
According to Persaud, the civil works on the building have also been completed.

The Minister noted that at the moment, the contractor is awaiting the arrival of some electrical equipment, which he was told, is already on its way to Guyana.
“The general electrical works have to be tidied up,” the Minister said adding that as soon as those are in place, testing will begin.

Last year December, Coordinating Director of the Caribbean Meteorological Organisation, Terrence Sutherland, announced that the Doppler radar tower was entering its completion stages, and should be installed and tested in January and February.
Sutherland made the remarks at the 48th Meeting of the Caribbean Meteorological Council of Ministers, held in Georgetown.
He explained that the network will allow the Caribbean region to embark on a new and much improved severe warning alert, which would give them the ability to remit the effects of some natural disasters, thus protecting the region.

It was noted that the Doppler radar in Trinidad and in Barbados have already been completed and are in working order, while the radar in Belize is under test and should be completed some time this month. Guyana is the last country to implement the system.
The Doppler radar tower had gone through some trying times.
When construction commenced at the first location, it had to be removed because the radar was being constructed at the wrong site.

Early this year, Minister Robert Persaud had expressed optimism that the project will be completed this year.
“We hope to have the radar up and running by February. I don’t envisage that we will have any other major setback that will prevent us from having that piece of technology… that vital piece of resource in making the work of the Hydromet Department much more accurate and relevant to our needs,” Minister Persaud had noted.

The agreement that was signed with the Caribbean Meteorological Organisation had stated that the tower would be completed and handed over in November.
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.

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