environment

Radio towers to get overhaul

The project will improve radion communication between park rangers in the Parque Nacional Coiba.

The project entails installing new equipment in the World War II-era installations.

David Mesa/LA PRENSA

more talk:A project to refurbish radio towers in the CNP will help rangers root out illegal fishing and drug smuggling.1063204

Patrolling the 270,000 acres of the Parque Nacional Coiba (PNC) isn't easy, but under a proposed management plan being prepared by the government, that job could get less difficult.

According to the plan, the government plans to use a $10,000 grant from the group Conservation International to refurbish radio communication towers in the park.

Those towers, which stand on top of the 416-meter-high Cerro La Torre , were built by the American military during World War II, explained Edgar Araúz, of the Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente (Anam).

“Anam currently does not have the communication infrastructure to cover the park,” Asaúz said.

The refurbished radio towers will greatly enhance the ability of the park rangers to communicate with each other, as well as personnel in nearby Santiago.

It is also expected to help them track boats that may be fishing illegally in the park or smuggling contraband.

The money will be used to upgrade the equipment at the stations and to refurbish the buildings. The materials for the project have already been ordered, and bad weather is the only reason why work hasn't started already.