International experts are set to meet with the National Weather Service on Friday to assess and commence repairs on the Doppler radar, Director General John Tibbetts said.
Speaking on the Cayman Compass talkshow ‘The Resh Hour’ on Wednesday evening, Tibbetts said the team will be reviewing the damage and any necessary repairs to the dome.
“Locally we do not have the expertise,” he said, as he addressed the timing of a fix for the damaged weather radar.
The Kearney Gomez Doppler Radar, which is located in High Rock, East End, is used to detect and track precipitation.
The radar went offline on 21 Oct. last year and has been out of service since.
However, the back-up generator which failed last year has been repaired, Tibbetts said.
Joining Tibbetts on the show was Hazard Management Cayman Islands Director Danielle Coleman, who assured the country has options for monitoring storms outside of the radar.
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Why has it taken 8 months to bring in the experts?, the original excuse was they were awaiting a part. Will we now revert to ordering parts that the experts identify as actually needed, and then wait for another 8 months for them to arrive and the experts instal them?.
Absolutely. It is a disgrace as to why this vital system has been allowed to be non functional for so long whilst the public were misdirected with statements that it was due to part availability opposed to lack of skills.
If this was a private entity or a civil service with any form of accountability people would have lost their jobs 6 months ago.
However, this lack of accountability is precisely why we are in this situation not only with the radar, but with the appalling performance of the civil service across almost every department.