The Lhop Community Radio station in Dophuchen Gewog in Samtse is temporarily off-air. The Lhop Community Radio, which started off with a lot of promise is now struggling to stay afloat with technical difficulties and limited people who are interested to work with the station.
The 91.1FM Lhop Community Radio station went on air sometime in March 2016. The Lhop people are among the oldest indigenous community in the country and the radio station was pepped to preserve their culture and tradition. For now, both radio transmitters, which sends radio signals are damaged, keeping the station off-air of over a week.
“We are not literate so when the equipment breaks down, we don’t know what to do and where to send it for repairs. Luckily, there is a lecturer at the College of Science and Technology and we have sent the transmitter to him and requested him to get it repaired as soon as possible,” said Tashi Tenzin, an Operator of Lhop Community Radio, Dophuchen Gewog, Samtse.
But the transmitter breaking down is a secondary concern for the community radio station.
“When we started we had four people working with the radio station. We worked together for about a year. After a while, some said they have to earn a living and giving time to the radio station does not give them any income. People backed off,” said Tashi Tenzin, an Operator of Lhop Community Radio.
The operator echoes the people’s concern and said he understands why locals’ interest in working with the community radio station is diminishing. Just two people now man the station.
“We did go through some training so the two of us are able to handle the daily work for now. We don’t have much time but we are managing the morning and evening shifts,” Tashi Tenzin added.
When functional, the Lhop Community Radio goes on air for three hours in a day running programmes like local news and announcements, interviews with relevant people, and song requests.
Sherub Dorji
