The emptied solar wings
The doors cut open
everything in a mess
Fast keine Paneele mehr übrig...
The watchmen telling us their storry
VIPI NIMEMJULISHA MKURUGENZI TUMEVAMIWA TENA NA WAIZI JUZI WAKIWA NA SILAHA WAKUZIDI NGUVU WAKAIBA SOLA NA WAKAWUNJA MLANGO WA JUU MFUNIKO MBONA HAMJI KUANGALIA TUNAISHI KWA TABU BARIDI MVUA KUNAHITAJIKA WANAMGABO 2 NA BUNDUKI TUSHIRIKIANE WASIJE KUIBA VILIVYOBAKI. WAIZI WANA SILAHA KALI KULIKO SISI: HATUTHUBUTU KULALA KIBANDANI NI CHINI YA MTI
From: Sungura Kidia
11:16 13/4/08
"I
have informed the director, we had been robbed again yesterday. They had a stronger
weapon. They stole the solar plates and broke the door to the technical room..."
First
we were shocked. The SMS had been delayed over night, what happens regularly during
weekends. We tried to contact the director at once. But he responded on no phone line. We
were sure he is doing the follow up. So we had to wait for Monday morning to see him in
his office. We wanted to go up immediately, but he wanted to get a clear picture himself
asking others about it. On Tuesday he had to be at the church head office in Arusha. We
insisted on going up with the police on Wednesday morning. Unfortunately we met a long
queue at the police office. So we went up to the transmitter side, while the director
waited at the police line.
When
we arrived at the transmitter site we met the watchmen guarding the property. But a glance
up the tower gave us a big shock: Nearly all solar panels were taken off! The heavy steel
door to the transmitter room was cut open. The second protective grill down inside was cut
into pieces. In the transmitter room the 2 solar regulators, a small generator, all the
tools and many small items were missing.
Without
grinder someone must have been sitting there the hole afternoon to cut the heavy metal
bars apart! Even taking down all the solar panels must have taken many hours, or even
days, since it took so long for us to mount them here as well!
The
watchmen told us their story about the robbery at 2 am at night. We could not believe it
because we understood the telemetry data now what has happened: They show the battery
voltage dropped to 0 on Wednesday at 19:08 in the evening. That must have been the time
when they finished the solar panels and cut the solar regulator...
Since
that time everything was standing open and just like a wonder the transmitter was still on
air!!
At
that time my director came up with the police commander and the national park guard.
"No
one could do all the work from 2 to 6 in the morning up there!" he said.
The
watchmen are under custody right now, but we are shure they do not want to say the truth
because they may be killed by the robbers....
We
started to weld new doors the same day to lock the transmitter room again.
The
transmitter continued to work for another 2 months during heavy rains by generator. Then
the generator refused to start. When installing a new starter battery, the voltage was
reversed and the electronics of the generator ruined.
The
transmitter was off air for a hole month causing the Lutheran Radio Centre a big loss of
income to run the station.
Unfortunately
the generator of the type: BEST48 D is no longer produced.