Engineers ready to complete digitisation project

Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
THE Parliamentary Portfolio Committee of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services has implored Government to urgently avail funds to complete the digitisation programme and enhance access to information by citizens.

The committee and officials from the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ), Transmedia and Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services visited Kamativi transmitter site in Hwange last Friday.

This was the last lap of a nationwide tour which also saw the team visiting Gwanda and Bulawayo. Government is constructing broadcasting transmission infrastructure in areas that had never received television or local radio signal countrywide. A total of 48 high-definition transmitter sites will be in place when the project is completed.

Eighteen out of 48 sites have been completed, which is about 43 percent completion for television sites while five of the targeted 24 radio transmission sites have been done.

Kamativi is one of the completed sites and hosts six radio stations namely Classic 263, Radio Zimbabwe, Power FM, national FM, Star FM and ZiFM. The Kamativi base station is a 5 000 watts transmitter with capacity to cover a radius of 100km but has been having electricity challenges as a result of blackouts resulting in loss of radio and TV signal.

Engineers have said, funds permitting, there is a need for solar backup for uninterrupted transmission.

When a Chronicle news crew visited the transmitter with the Portfolio Committee yesterday, the base station was running on a generator as there has been no electricity in Kamativi for the past week.

In an interview after the tour, the committee chairperson Ms Sipho Mokone said information is key to development.

“What we realised so far is that this project is moving at a snail’s pace. I am sure you are aware that it was launched in 2015 and it was supposed to be completed in 2017 but we are already in 2021.

“So far we have installed 18 transmitters out of 48 which means in percentage we have done 43 percent of the intended project. So, we are appealing to Treasury to disburse funds timeously so that this project is actually achieved as per plan,” she said.

Ms Mokone said most of the sites the committee visited had better quality but expressed concern about the Gwanda transmitter which she said needs upgrading.As per the project scope, the country is upgrading some existing transmitters and also constructing new ones.

“Completion of these sites is key because information is key. If you remember the theme for this year’s World Press Freedom day was ‘Information as a public good’, so in times when we are faced with global pandemics like Covid-19 information is very crucial hence we are saying it is prudent that these sites be completed so that people get information in the comfort of their homes,” she said.

Projects engineer Mathias Chakanyuka said timelines for completing the project will only be known once funds are availed.

“Timelines depend on what Treasury gives. If we get money quickly, we can do them as quickly as possible. So, it is funds availability that determines when we will finish but basically, we are ready to finish the whole project,” he said.

Eng Chakanyuka said the project needs about US$73 million to finish. He said the project will see some gap-filling transmitters being erected in areas where transmission is a challenge for a seamless reach, while some of them (gap fillers) will be decommissioned once the permanent sites are completed.-@ncubeleon