Montecristi radar has a range of 220 miles; Another one is announced in Manabí

MONTECRISTI, Manabí

A brief welcome ceremony by authorities of the Ecuadorian Air Forces and the raising of the flag were the acts carried out at noon on Thursday 28 at the top of Montecristi hill, where an aircraft detection radar and other activities were installed. illegal activities that are detected in the territory of Manabí and a large part of the province of Santa Elena.

The location of this device took less than three months, in which there were even complaints from Montecristenses who questioned the location of the radar in an area of ​​flora and fauna settlement, clarifying for the most part that they were not opposed to promoting this program against of illicit activities, but that it was done in another sector of Manabí.

Even the traces of the claims of community members and activists not only from Montecristi, but also from the country, remain at the foot of the chapel of the Tohalla Grande commune, the site of access by land to the top of the hill of this canton.

The radar installed in Montecristi is in operation as of today, announces the FAE

“The hill is not for sale, it is cared for and defended,” reads a blue poster pasted on the front of the city’s Catholic compound, where those who oppose the launch of the radar on the mountain still they carry out cultural activities demanding the defense of the hill.

Climbing the more than two kilometers from the lower part of Tohalla Grande to the top of the hill requires physical effort. As this ascent passes, you can see a large part of the flora and fauna that remain in the place, as well as small springs of water that flow in some points.

Choosing the top of this mountain, about 600 meters above sea level, was achieved thanks to the work with a software which defined this sector as the most suitable to place this Spanish radar.

After defining the place, the next step was to know if the soil was going to allow the weight and volume of the equipment to be installed, and then to obtain the environmental permits.

Radar installation in Montecristi hill progresses according to plan, according to Governor of Manabí

“By complying with the corresponding cycles, after carrying out the homologations, we have been able to see that the place (hill) has been the best. We have more than 220 miles of detection range of our radar, and in what is low altitude, an excellent detection ”, said Geovanny Espinel, general commander of the Ecuadorian Air Force (FAE).

In 2021, the FAE has detected four ships in illicit activities. And in the rural area of ​​Montecristi, in 2020 about 6 of the 15.9 tons seized that year were detected. Only in an operation in the Manantiales community they unearthed about three tons of narcotics.

With this detection system, the air control authorities now complemented what they started in May: a redesign of the entire air defense system to be able to comply with air control.

Hence, according to Espinel, the support of President Guillermo Lasso was necessary, who in a meeting on May 31 of this year considered it urgent to initiate a process to reduce the threat of drug trafficking in provinces such as Manabí and Santa Elena.

Now we are working on what will be the location of a new radar in Manabí, this time on the hill of the San Isidro parish of the Sucre canton, in the north of this province, where, as in the Montecristi hill, They carry out corresponding studies to see soil conditions, work on environmental permits and begin socialization, first with authorities and then complementing with citizens.

“It is the FAE’s responsibility to monitor and control airspace, and if we see that there is unidentified air traffic that is not complying with the regulations of the General Directorate of Civil Aviation, the action force will immediately be activated. immediately and we will direct our aircraft to comply with the interception of that team. That is what we do in that sense ”, Espinel concluded. (I)