Damaged radio stations to get new boost from '68H'

Damaged radio stations to get new boost from '68H'

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post/Lhokseumawe

Four radio stations destroyed by the quake-triggered tidal waves in Banda Aceh will be rebuilt by 68H news radio station, and by the end of this month, at least two of them will be back on air.

The four radio stations are Muhammadiyah and Prima FM radios in Banda Aceh, Dalka radio in Meulaboh and Megaphone in Sigli.

Santoso, director of 68H radio, said on Thursday that the plan would require some Rp 1.2 billion, and that would given to them by U.S.-based Media Development Loan Fund that has entrusted his station to coordinate the work.

"We'll only work as the technical team responsible to rebuild the four radio stations," said Santoso when contacted by phone.

He said the work would be started on Thursday and done in stages.

In the first phase they will rebuild Muhammadiyah and Prima FM in Banda Aceh, and for that, 15 technicians from 68H were sent from Jakarta.

"Today (Thursday), the 15 technicians arrived in Banda Aceh. We assume that the reconstruction of the two stations can be finished by the end of this month," Santoso said.

According to Santoso, once the reconstruction of the two radio stations in Banda Aceh was done, the next job would be rebuilding Dalka radio station in Meulaboh.

The work on Dalka radio station is expected to start in February, and after it is completed, the next target is Megaphone radio in Sigli.

"The reconstruction of the radio stations is intended to restore communication for the Acehnese, after it was destroyed during the disaster," Santoso said.

Moreover, the reconstruction would also serve as a means of healing, and could be a way to assist surviving victims, so they can find their missing relatives, he said.

After the work is done on the first four radio stations, there is a plan to rebuild other damaged stations in Simelue, Meulaboh and Banda Aceh. All those costs in the latter project will be covered by donations from radio stations in the Netherlands and Germany.