The Voice of Peninsular 96.0, or Radio Tombo as it is popular called, was completely burnt down in the morning hours of Wednesday 21st October 2020. The entire studio and equipment were burnt beyond recognition. According to Station Manager Salu Mengeh Koroma, after their morning editorial meeting, the staff went to turn on the generator that supplies power to the building, after which he was informed of fire in the studios. “The entire studio was burnt down by fire. We could not salvage a single equipment,” he lamented.
Asked if the building and its equipment were insured, Koroma replied, “In 2005, at that time few insurance companies were in the country, I approached one of them but they told me that the station is in a high risk zone simply because it is near a petrol filling station. So, this station is not insured nor the equipment.”
Meanwhile, he could not speculate on the cause of the fire disaster. He said the Fire Force personnel came later and helped put out the fire, “but they could not remove anything”. He furthered, “It is one of the oldest radio stations in the Western Area, second to Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) and Radio Democracy 98.1 FM. Currently, we do not know where to start; we had no reserves. The full set of the equipment are very expensive, but we have started talking to our partners.”
He called on the residents of the communities that the station served to have hope as they will come back on air when the time is right.
Edward Sesay, the Head of Programs at the burnt station, said they had two doors leading into the studio. “When I entered I saw the fire near the transmitter. Then I called my colleagues but they could not have sand quickly enough as youths were not around. The fire engulfed the entire studio. The doors and windows were also locked so the fire spread quickly. This is the oldest community radio station in the peninsular. It has been in existence since 2009. We have weekly and monthly programs; all have been put on hold due to this incident and our audience is left out,” he complained.
The Sport and Daily Magazine presenter, Albert Newland, agreed with his Station Manager on the time of the fire incident. He said his shows come on air from 9:00–10:00am and from 12:00 to 1:00p.m daily. “Yesterday, I could not broadcast my shows, it was very sad. We could not blame it on foul play or any suspicious activity. I believe it was an accident,” he noted.
The Presenter of Business Magazine and Woman’s Talk, Lucinda O’Reilly, took Awoko on a conducted tour of the charred facility showing the burnt debris of the studio equipment. “My programs are helping the women grow their business and understand women’s issues. It was a very sad day for us,” she stated.
The Chairman of the seven villages under Chief Pa Alimamy Kamara II, who came second in the last headman election, said the station was the only credible source of information in their area. “During election time we used the station to disseminate our information far and wide. Now that it is destroyed we have to resort to community presentation. That can only send messages to a limited number of people,” he said. He called on the populace of the area to make donations to ensure that the station is up and running again.
By David Thoronka