What event was so important it forced Prime Minister Said Musa and Natural Resources Minister Florencio Marin to forego an afternoon of campaigning?
Why, the chance to break ground for a new radar system at the Meteorology Department, of course.
Today at 4:00 p.m., P.M. Musa, Marin and assorted invited guests assembled near the current headquarters of the National Meteorological Service behind the Philip Goldson International Airport to begin the path toward the construction of a new radar tower and extension wing for the Belize Weather Bureau, to incorporate a new Doppler Weather Radar gained as part of a Regional Weather Radar Warning System funded by the European Union, with stations in Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana.
Ramon Frutos, Acting Chief Meteorologist, told the gathering only an hour or so earlier that the new Doppler radar, which has met success in developed countries predicting severe weather, will be vital in Belize’s short-term weather forecasting and ideal for monitoring hurricanes. He told Amandala after the gathering that instead of hurricane updates every three hours during the approach of an impending storm, for instance, Met would be able to offer hourly position updates, which would certainly help the National Emergency Management Organization to better organize possible evacuations from threatened areas, as well as better monitor areas likely to be threatened.
Minister Marin said the Government, assuming reelection, plans to invest in a remote sensing system and rainfall station network, expanding coverage for “more timely, accurate and more trustworthy information.” He called the installation “something long overdue.”
After briefly tracing Belize’s history with hurricanes, the Prime Minister told the gathering that the new radar system would limit damage costs and loss of life due to hurricane damage, particularly for Belize’s agriculture and hydro/aqua industries.
Managing the project is Michael Dalrymple of the European Union, which is spending 13.2 million Euros on it. When completed (as expected) by June 2008, it will be linked with existing radar elsewhere in the Caribbean to give the entire archipelago a better warning system for hurricanes.
Tyrone Sutherland of the Caribbean Meteorological Organization, which is managing the project for the Caribbean Forum for ACP States (CARIFORUM), said the radar was in Germany waiting to be shipped out upon completion of the building by the winning contractor, Fabro’s Industries Ltd.
The estimated cost of the building, to host sleeping quarters, a library on climate change, office space and a conference room, according to Frutos, is some $300,000.