News
Friday, May 07, 2010
PBC, US sign $8m MoU for provision of transmitters* New transmitters will improve signals, enable people to have access to better information
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) signed an $8 million agreement to purchase and install new AM transmitters in Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan, with United States Ambassador to Pakistan Anne W Patterson, in a memorandum of understanding (MoU) ceremony held on Thursday.
The project will help expand radio access to millions of Pakistanis in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The document was signed by the US ambassador, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, USAID Mission Director Robert J Wilson and PBC Director General Murtaza Solangi.
Access to information: The new transmitters will improve digital signals and enable Radio Pakistan broadcasts in far-flung areas of the country. With expanded Radio Pakistan broadcasts, people throughout these areas, including North and South Waziristan, will have access to entertainment, news and current affairs as well as vital information on health and educational programming for students, she added. Earlier, the US government had pledged $7.5 billion to be given over a period of five years to improve education, health, governance and livelihood opportunities for the people of Pakistan.
Addressing the occasion, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira said terrorism and extremism is a “mindset” and we would have to use all possible tools including radio, culture, sports, information and education to transform the society into a tolerant one.
Kaira thanked the international community for extending its support to Pakistan in different areas and said the country needs more assistance and equipment to fight the war against terrorism and extremism.
He said radio was an important medium of dispensing information but unfortunately it remained neglected over the past. He said the present government had declared 2010 as the Year of Radio. In his welcome address, Radio Pakistan Director General Murtaza Solangi said the PBC was being upgraded to reach out to the larger Paksitani public.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk