The only death in the Trincomalee station with 27 years of civil conflict
and the station was a no mans territory, was a German engineer who took a
chance and left the station to get to Colombo (200kms away) to catch a
flight. There was firing in the area between Tamil Tigers and the
Government forces and he was advised not to leave the station. Both the
Tigers and Govt commanders always informed the DW station if there were any
activities. He took a chance and paid the price sadly.
Trincomalee was in a safe place after the conflict, well established and
Commercial National grid power was just a few months away after the end of
the conflict on May 2010 when the decision was taken to close the station
on 30th October and hand over to SLBC on the 1st of Jan 2011. It would have
been even cheaper to run the station as the SLBC now finds it.. We all
tried hard to make DW management keep Trinco as it was good to cover Africa
too and Asia compared to limited use and more expensive Kigali. But we
feel closing Trinco and keeping Kigali was a short term and a trick to
close dowe short wave in the short term as they have now done. If the
German govt can't afford 3 million Euros, I wonder who can. It is just that
there is no will. Trincomalee is running with 10% of that budget. :)
On Sat, Mar 28, 2015 at 9:09 PM, 'Wolfgang Bueschel_DF5SX'
buesch...@email.de [DXplorer] wrote:
>
>
> fwd - FYI
>
> The DW switched their latest self-powered shortwave relay station in
> Kigali Rwanda tonight.
>
> For 50 years the radio programs from the hills of Kigali sent via shortwave
> to Africa and Europe - with an eventful history.
>
> There are financial reasons for Deutsche Welle's departure.
> The annual cost of running the station totals three million euros
> ($3.3 million). {nothing, - compared to 385 billion debts by Greece, wb.}
>
> http://www.dw.de/deutsche-welle-closes-kigali-outpost/a-18340960
>
> http://www.dw.de/image/0,,16641823_303,00.jpg
>
> DW French - Afrique - L'adieu à Kigali.
> Depuis 1965, la station-relais DW de Kigali relayait les émissions en ondes
> courtes de notre radio en plusieurs langues sur le continent africain.
>
> Le samedi 28 mars, une page de l'histoire de notre radio se tourne : c'est
> la date à laquelle la station-relais de la Deutsche Welle à Kigali ferme
> ses
> portes. Elle existait depuis 1965. Souvenirs, souvenirs...
> http://www.dw.de/actualités/s-10261
>
> http://www.dw.de/ladieu-%C3%A0-kigali/a-18343095
>
> http://www.dw.de/image/0,,15631753_302,00.jpg
>
>
> http://player.dw.de/scripts/jwplayer/player.swf?autostart=true&skin=http%3A%2F%2Fplayer.dw.de%2Fscripts%2Fjwplayer%2Fskins%2Fdw%2Fdw.zip&stretching=fill&file=http%3A%2F%2Fradio-download.dw.de%2FEvents%2Fdwelle%2Fdira%2Fmp3%2Ffra%2FB5BDC425_2.mp3&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dw.de%2Fimage%2F0%2C%2C15631753_4%2C00.jpg
>
> http://www.dw.de/popups/mediaplayer/contentId_18343095_mediaId_18346256
>
>
> http://www.dw.de/goodbye-kigali-abschied-von-der-letzten-dw-relaisstation/a-18343911
>
> some foto images of DWL Kigali site 1965 - 2015
>
> http://www.dw.de/ende-der-relaisstation-kigali-bilder-einer-bewegten-geschichte/g-18342899
>
> http://www.dw.de/image/0,,18343673_303,00.jpg
>
> first general director of DWL in Kigali in 1965
> http://www.dw.de/image/0,,18345465_303,00.jpg
>
> http://www.dw.de/image/0,,18344376_303,00.jpg
>
> built up Kigali relay masts in 1965
> http://www.dw.de/image/0,,18344038_303,00.jpg
>
> http://www.dw.de/image/0,,18343643_303,00.jpg
>
> DWL Kigali antenna matrix switch
> http://www.dw.de/image/0,,15665447_303,00.jpg
>
> Germany's Foreign Minister Genscher on DWL relay site Kigali
> http://www.dw.de/image/0,,18345449_303,00.jpg
>
> Young DWL engineering staff
> http://www.dw.de/image/0,,18343631_303,00.jpg
> http://www.dw.de/image/0,,18343671_303,00.jpg
>
> German President Koehler visit
> http://www.dw.de/image/0,,18345444_303,00.jpg
>
> DWL Kigali transmitter hall
> http://www.dw.de/image/0,,18344368_303,00.jpg
>
> http://www.dw.de/image/0,,18343636_303,00.jpg
>
> 1965 year built-up at Kigali site
> http://www.dw.de/image/0,,18344009_401,00.jpg
>
> http://www.dw.de/image/0,,18343681_401,00.jpg
>
> DWL staff 4 Germans, 60 local technical people, some 60 Secret Service
> http://www.dw.de/kigali-im-land-der-tausend-hügel/a-15671029
>
> DW Kigali seven engineering staff members and 4 families rescued by Belgium
> Air Forces on 13 April 1994, some 60 local relay site people killed in the
> Hutu vv Tutsi genocide clashes :
> http://www.dw.de/vor-15-jahren-dw-mitarbeiter-aus-ruanda-gerettet/a-4159997
>
> Around 80 of the 100 Rwandan staff at Deutsche Welle's Kigali relay station
> were killed in the genocide. Walter Berger and his colleagues returned to
> the station in August 1994 and it was a ghastly sight that awaited them.
> They found body parts of their dead Rwandan colleagues in the rooms. They
> were able to identify them by their clothing.
>
> http://www.dw.de/popups/mediaplayer/contentId_4159997_mediaId_4160
