Over 1 million dollars’ worth of damage has been estimated for the Broadcasting Corporation of Niue building at Fonuakula.
On Tuesday May 19th, an early morning fire broke out inside the building which destroyed the TV Niue operation room and studio.
Only the radio studio and editing room were not damaged by the fire but were affected by the smoke and thick soot.
General Manager Trevor Tiakia said he has presented the report on the fire incident to the board of BCN.
“We’re working on getting equipment from New Zealand to enable us to operate one channel free to air for the meantime. “
The General Manager said getting radio up and running is a priority that the technicians are working on.
“We’re trying our best to cover the General Election in our news programmes, for now the news team is utilizing our online platforms. Livestreaming on the day of the General election is an option if we ‘re not able to get all needed equipment to broadcast.” said Tiakia
Investigation by the police and Fire and rescue department continue into the cause of the fire.
BCN Newsteam and administration staff members are currently working at the conference room of the joint emergency operation center at Fonuakula for the time being as the General Manager seeks a vacant property near the transmitter at Fonuakula for the Staff to work from.
The BCN building was originally designed as an emergency operation centre for cyclones with the studio side of the building built as a bunker designed to withstand cyclonic conditions. The structure of the building was able to contain the fire inside, preventing it from completely destroying the building and spreading the fire to nearby properties.