Pacific Islands Battles !

Getting Christian Radio going - and keeping it on air - is proving a bit of a battle on the Pacific Islands.

Tongan Earthquake Puts 93FM Off Air

A 7.9 magnitude earthquake close to Tonga has put Christian Radio 93FM off air.

In Tonga there are reports of damage around Nuku'alofa but no reports of loss of life so far. The Islands are sparsely populated and it's rare to see a building higher that two stories, so there is not the loss of life you might expect in a city.

The radio station is off the air because the transmitter and other equipment were shaken out of the equipment rack and onto the floor. Local staff are now repairing the transmitter cables, ready to reconnect it and turn it on again, talking through each step of this process with a technician in New Zealand by phone.

93FM in Nuku'alofa also recently suffered severe wind damage to it's antenna.

89FM in Vava'u is also off the air

Radio station 98FM on Vava'u (northern islands of Tonga) is undamaged from the earthquake but has been off air since a lightening strike burned up the mixer panel last week.

The station will remain off air until a new mixer can be flown to Tonga. Once this is available it wil be neccessary to run some tests on the transmitter in case it, or the antenna, was also damaged by the lightening.

Again, each step of the recovery process will be talked through, over the phone, with a technician in New Zealand.

Gud Nius Redio in Honiara back on air after riots

48 hours of rioting in the Solomon Islands put Honiara-based station Gud Nius Redio off air.

The station and a local church were both spared fire damage when rioters set fire to properties but the wind direction changed to protect these properties.

Gud Nius Redio is now back on air but is using some borrowed equipment to replace two mixer panels lost from the station during looting.


New regional internet and satellite radio network is ready

Successful trials have been running on this new regional radio network and now just some equipment is required for the Islands in order to connect the first two stations (Tonga and the Solomons).

This project has taken two years longer than expected, but now presents a very affordable way to bring 24 hour radio programming to every island across the vast South Pacific Ocean.

Web Links

• UCB Pacific Partners
  (note - this site will shortly be replaced with a new and updated site)