Japan International Cooperation Agency senior representative in Pakistan, Toshiya Sato, and Radio Pakistan Director General Murtaza Solangi signed an agreement early this month to upgrade the technical facilities of Radio Pakistan.
The project, for which the Japanese government will provide ¥1.384 billion as a grant aid, and the Pakistan government will contribute 89 million Pakistani rupees, consists of installing a state-of-the-art 500 kW medium-wave transmitter at Faqir Abad in Attock district (Punjab province), establishing five modern studios and replacing the master control room at Radio Pakistan Islamabad.
According to an announcement, the undertaking is part of the “Rehabilitation of Radio Pakistan medium-wave transmitting network for the improvement in education, health, information, and enlightenment in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Gilgit-Baltistan, and parts of Punjab Province under Japanese grant aid.”
Solangi said that the new dual-mode transmitter, which will replace the 1,000 kW analog tube transmitter installed since 1976, would be the broadcaster’s most powerful transmitter yet. Both Japanese and Pakistani engineers will work together to complete the upgrade, which will be finalized approximately 16 months after work begins this August. The new transmitter, he noted, will cover all of Pakistan, especially at night.
