fp Turks and Caicos

Two days after marine police intercepted a Haitian sloop four miles south of Providenciales, a construction crew arrived to erect a 40-meter radar tower that will let police see such vessels up to 22 nautical miles away in the busiest coastal area of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

On Feb. 25, marine officers aboard police launch Sea Quest intercepted a sloop carrying 139 illegal Haitian immigrants, police said. They included 108 males, including six juveniles, and 31 females, including three juveniles.

The immigrants will be medically screened, processed and sent back to Haiti.

Three years in the works, the new radar system is aimed at stemming the nearly constant flow of illegal boats bound for the TCI. Bleak government finances and problems with land acquisition have plagued the project until recently.

“As of the close of work (March 1), we have everything in place and have started preliminary work to erect the 40-meter (131.24 feet) radar tower, plus about 10 foot of platform and antenna,” said project manager Fred Skovberg.

Antenna and radar company Easat will rent from TDMG the only crane on the island that can lift two tons of material high enough to construct the radar tower, Skovberg said.

“Over the next 10 days, we will be erecting the tower in six-meter (about 20 foot) sections and lifting them onto the tower structure and bolting them together,” Skovberg said. “Finally the radar antenna will be mounted.”

“Once that is done we will then bring the standby generator and equipment cabin onto site and mount them. Some electronics will follow, plus testing and equipment commissioning.”

Staff will then be selected and trained to man the facility 24 hours a day. ““We should be operational in the May-June time period,” Skovberg said.

The TCI hosted a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees training workshop on International Refugee Protection and Mixed Migration Feb. 23-25 to increase awareness, improve local knowledge and develop competencies on issues related to refugees and migration.

“The workshop explored international norms and standards relating to detention, the identification of persons in need of international protection in the context of mixed migration flows, including the maritime context, and strengthening knowledge of best practices related to the identification, counseling and referral of protection cases within the migration management context,” the Ministry of Border Control and Labour said.