The time when it will resume its control activities at the top of the Montecristi hill is unknown.
Manta, MANABÍ
The Armed Forces and the Ministry of National Defense ordered two investigations with technical teams to determine the causes that caused damage to the radar antenna located on the top of the Montecristi hill. Last Sunday there was an explosion that left it without operation, eleven days after it was enabled for air traffic control in the area.
The State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) also initiated an investigation in order to establish the origin of the damage, which at the moment is handled as a hypothesis of internal damage to the radar or even that a person outside the Armed Forces of Ecuador has caused damage to the surveillance system for illegal activities in part of the country’s coastal provinces, according to Antonio Puga, commander of the command of air operations and defenses of the Armed Forces.
Puga presented the complaint to the Prosecutor’s Office so that it can be investigated and found those responsible, accomplices and accessories in the event that this is the case, and that even if one of the members of the Armed Forces were involved, they will act with all the rigor of law.
“On the other hand, I have also requested through the general commander of the Police (Tannya Varela), for a technical team of both explosives and investigation to carry out the lifting of the parts that were found on the floor, to determine if it is that there was or was not an act against our station, ”said Puga.
The time that will be spent in the rehabilitation of the radar is still unknown, whose damage to the equipment, according to Puga, is less and the time that it will be recovered will be according to the damage that has been generated in that equipment, which is insured .
“It is an electronic equipment that we must check all the electronic cards to determine the damage, therefore, I would not be able to determine the time it will take to recover it; however, what we can guarantee is that we have taken other types of measures to try to cover the Montecristi radar areas, ”said Puga.
Radar gear pump failure in Montecristi hill caused an explosion that alerted nearby towns
For now, given the suspension of control activities from the Montecristi hill radar, the Armed Forces use other means similar to that of the top of the Manabi mountain, to continue with the mission of protecting Ecuadorian air spaces. Likewise, according to Puga, the State has increased vigilance both in air, naval and land spaces to prevent illegal activities from increasing.
This Monday morning, the Minister of Defense, Luis Hernández, paid a visit to the area where the radar is installed on the top of the Montecristi hill. There he verified the facilities and the damage that caused this control system to temporarily suspend its activities.
“What we are going to have is the radar working again as soon as possible here in Manabí, because the responsibility that we have in relation to the surveillance of the airspace is not in discussion, we will do it again and as soon as possible “Said Puga.
Juan Francisco Núñez, governor of Manabí, indicated that the Prosecutor’s Office is already taking versions of people who knew of the activity that happened last Sunday, a fact that occurred after 03:00, and whose roar of the outbreak was heard by several Montecristenses.
Last Sunday, the Defense Ministry declared that it was not ruled out that the explosion was due to a possible attack. (I)
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
