Dominica government moves to strengthen post-disaster communication

Oscar George (right) being sworn in as a member of Cabinet

The government of Dominica has articulated the need to strengthen the post-disaster communication mechanisms through the implementation of a combination of initiatives.

According to Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister with Responsibility for Telecommunications and Broadcasting, Oscar George, this in itself, is very important given the fact that during major emergencies and disasters, there may be major failures or overloading of the telecommunications infrastructure including the degradation or loss of the electrical grid, the internet or even radio broadcasting.

“As we have experienced, first-hand disasters can have significant impacts on our island’s communication system. To this end, government has articulated the need to strengthen the post-disaster communication mechanisms through the implementation of a combination of initiatives,” he said.

George continued, “Through support from the international telecommunications union (ITU) and the government of Dominica we were able to install and deploy a stand-alone emergency telecommunications system which we call the Wind Link Radio Messaging System.”

He explained that this is essentially a worldwide radio messaging system that uses amateur band radio frequencies and government frequencies to provide radio interconnection services that include; e-mails, position reporting, weather bulletins, emergency and relief communication and even message relay.

“The system is particularly critical for first responders during and after any disaster or mass incident situation,” George stated.

He said it does not depend on the internet for operation but rather relies on radio networks.

On Friday, July 3rd, 2020 Dominica became the latest country in the world to launch such a system through a collaborative effort between government, the ITU Caribbean area office based in Barbados and the Amateur Radio Club Inc.

The Wind Link Network operates 24-7 using solar generators with built-in power resilient components coupled with the use of radio frequencies.

George said radio operators located around the island and connected to the wind link network are now capable of transmitting live position reporting through E-mails or attachment to the emergency operating centre as well as any other wind link network worldwide.

“So we will see training in the operation and management of the network,” he stated. “This will be facilitated in the coming weeks in order to increase the capacity among our key stakeholders.

The government of Dominica thanked the ITU for their collaborative support in particularly technical expertise they provided throughout the phase and also the Amateur Radio Technicians for facilitating the remote configuration of the network.

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5 Comments

  1. Ibo France
    July 11, 2020

    I have zero confidence in Skerrit’s regime of bandits, scamps and liars. The only thing they are expertly good at, is to use the taxpayers’ money to stay at the top of the food chain.

  2. Sylvester Cadette
    July 10, 2020

    Well done Dominica. The Team from the Ministry and the Amateur Radio Club under direction of Mr. Pierre Louis was Phenomenal in technical expertise.

    CONGRATULATIONS!!

  3. De-lie-lah or De Liar?
    July 10, 2020

    Skerrit De-lie-lar and Melissa De-lie-lar De-liar government. All we get from them is lie and cheat. But the great Samson will remind us that it was Delilah that that finally brought him down though she tried and failed many times before

    • July 12, 2020

      So you think you are smart to write this rubbish? Well, I don’t think that you are; where is the comparison of Samson and Delilah with the message that is written above?

      And if you are speaking in general, which is the negative input, that feeds the hungry minds of people like you–there is no lie in the story of Samson and Delilah. You can say she betrayed him; that is true. But in that context, she finally got the win.

      But the end was no victory for neither of them, in that he ended up a blind man, without his strength, and everyone died with him, by his own regained strength.

      Where do you see a comparison of the rule of our Government with the story of Samson and Delilah?

  4. Cock & pullet
    July 10, 2020

    “Dominica government” is misleading because what we have home is nothing but a bunch of cock and pullet in cabinet feeding their full from tax payers money. If someone were to ask me which government is in power, I would tell them it’s the Montreal Investment party, where one Lebanese leads and one French man follows instructions.

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