Charles Kong Soo
There is concern over the state of communication transmitters located at Cumberland Hill after a huge landslide blocked access to the site where they are located last week. With the road currently impassable, operators of national security and media entities that rely on the transmitters are concerned that the only way to the location is by air which will pose serious problems with transporting equipment for emergency repairs or to power generators.
Director of the T&T Publishers and Broadcasters Association (TTPBA) Kiran Maharaj said Cumberland Hill had been fully deteriorating for years but became impassable last week due to a landslide caused by heavy rainfall.
“This is unfortunate as the majority of the country’s electronic media reside at the hill, in addition to the transmitters for divisions of the Ministry of National Security, T&T Police Service, T&T Coast Guard, T&T Fire Services, ambulance services, communication to oil platforms, as well as TSTT and Digicel,” she said.
“We are looking at a situation where the country’s major communication systems are in jeopardy. Part of the road is broken, vehicles cannot traverse that road.”
Maharaj said if there is a power outage, the electricity supply to the site cannot be restored immediately as T&TEC crews will not be able to get there. The generators for the transmitters might operate for two or three days but will go down if diesel fuel or equipment doesn’t get there on time, even by helicopter.
Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan said personnel from the ministry’s engineering department hope to complete an assessment by tomorrow. Officials from the Disaster Management Unit of the Diego Martin Regional Corporation, who were busy with flood cleanups said they were unable to assist.
Maharaj said the TTPBA has made an urgent appeal for assistance to the Ministry of Works and Transport and the Ministry of National Security and is spearheading efforts for the restoration of Cumberland Hill.
She said the group got assistance from Sinanan for an engineering study in 2018-2019. However, the second stage of that project was never completed. The Telecommunication Authority of Trinidad & Tobago (TATT) took on the project but to date, nothing has happened, so the TTPBA got involved.
Minister of Communications Symon de Nobriga and members of his technical staff made a site visit to Cumberland Hill yesterday to check on transmitter facilities operated by state-owned Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT) and to discuss the infrastructure in place.