A Télécoms Sans Frontières TSF worked in partnership with the European Commission (ECHO) to reinforce the islands’ disaster response system by providing emergency telecom kits to local relief organizations and training them in its use.
During the initial phase of the operation, the experts provided technical support to the emergency coordination center at Sikakap, the capital of the Pagai islands, by installing Internet connections and satellite phone lines which enabled 32 organizations to conduct a more efficient emergency response. TSF also provided a free phone service so that people affected by the disaster could make contact with their relatives. During this calling operation, the TSF team became aware of the severe logistic and communication challenges that organizations serving the Islands face, as the majority of the population live in areas that are hard to access.
This project, funded by the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO), provided eight organizations with a new communication system that reaches across each of the four main islands and includes 26 satellite phones and two large emergency communication kits.
Published by: SatNews on February 22, 2011
Full article: http://www.satnews.com/cgi-bin/story.cgi?number=534731755
