Aruba is expanding its Early Warning System with eight additional, self-sustaining stations, building on the first units installed a few months ago. Designed to operate during power outages, the stations broadcast pre-recorded messages in Papiamento, English, and Spanish (with Dutch used as an alert tone). Future plans include integration with local radio, while the press remains the first line of public information.
The initial stations—one of which is among the island’s most advanced—were inaugurated on March 3. The roll-out of eight more is now underway. Unlike systems in the Netherlands and elsewhere that require monthly testing, Aruba’s network is self-diagnosing: if a fault occurs, the control room is notified automatically. “Our staff monitor the stations and can immediately check what is happening if an issue occurs,” said Rino Hermans, director of the Crisis Management Office (CMO).
A three-day public testing period in March familiarized residents with the alerts. The stations won’t run continuously for monitoring purposes, as the system is engineered to self-correct without constant activation.
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