President opens Kokavil tower today
Irangika Range
President Mahinda Rajapaksa will open the tallest self-supporting
transmission tower in South East Asia- the Kokavil Transmission tower-in
the Mullaitivu District in the Northern Province today. The
Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka has spent Rs.330
million to construct the 174 metre high multi-purpose transmission
tower.
Sri Lanka Telecommunication Regulatory Commission’s Director General
Anusha Pelpita said the tower will provide the Northern people better
access to radio, TV and Internet facilities after 30 years.
The project was jointly launched by the Sri Lanka Telecommunication
Regulatory Commission and the Media Ministry under the instructions of
President Mahinda Rajapaksa and full supervision of Economic Development
Minister Basil Rajapaksa.
The tower will also be used to introduce digital radio and television
transmission using the Digital Video Broadcasting’s DVB-T2 digital
terrestrial broadcasting standard through the Kokavil tower for the
entire Northern Province.
This will help to provide high quality and clear television, radio
and telecommunication coverage to the entire Northern Province.
He said the tower is to be utilized for TV, radio and
telecommunication transmissions as well as military communication
operations. Sri Lanka Army gave tremendous support to make the project a
success. The Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, Sri Lanka Rupavahini
Corporation and the Independent Television Network commenced test
transmissions in April.
”The TRC expects to provide space for several private media and
telecommunication channels, especially Tamil channel transmission space
through this tower,” Pelpita added. He said that the tower which was
first constructed in 1982 was destroyed by the LTTE in July 1990. The TV
and radio transmissions were interrupted for the entire Northern region
once the tower was destroyed. Now the Northern people have a opportunity
to watch TV and listen to the radio without transmission interruptions
after several decades, he said.
Pelpita further said that the foundation stone to construct the
Kokavil transmission tower was laid in March, 2009. The construction of
the site came to standstill for six-seven months due to floods in the
North. The transmission tower was constructed with the consultation of
local engineers and using local manpower supervised by the Central
Engineering Consultancy Bureau Sri Lanka.
”We now have an opportunity to give a clear picture and provide
information to the Northern people regarding the government’s massive
development drive and other social and political issues in the country,”
he added. |