South Korea gives $4-M grant to Pagasa for system improvement
The Korea International Cooperation Agency (Koica) has recently given a $4-million grant to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) for the improvement of its services.
In a statement, KOICA said the amount will cover the “development and installation of the receiving system for meteorological satellite as well as provision of equipment for data reception and analysis in five different project sites all over the Philippines.”
The project sites are Tuguegarao in Northern Luzon, Pagasa Headquarters in the National Capital Region, Legazpi City in Southern Luzon, Lapu-Lapu City in the Visayas, and El Salvador City in Mindanao.
The grant made it possible for Pagasa to launch the Communication, Ocean & Meteorological Satellite (COMS) Analysis System on Wednesday.
“This multi-million project, made possible through the Korean government’s grant aid and technical cooperation program, is guaranteed to help strengthen Pagasa’s capacity to receive and analyze meteorological satellite data and thereby enhancing weather monitoring and improving weather forecast accuracy,” Pagasa Administrator Vicente Malano was quoted saying during the launch.
Included in the project is the technology transfer of satellite data analysis, sharing of technical know-how of Korean experts and training of Pagasa personnel on natural disasters.
“As we all know, the Philippines has long been vulnerable to extreme weather conditions and that it is one of those countries that is greatly affected by climate change,” Koica Country Director Shin said. “And with this project, I believe that it will have great contributions in identifying, assessing and reducing the risks of natural disasters.”
The Philippines is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change and extreme weather. It was heavily damaged in 2013 by Super Typhoon Haiyan. /atm
