98FM, the Voice of the People [1]
Thursday, March 8, 2012 - 18:43. Updated on Monday, September 9, 2013 - 18:40.
A new FM radio station, 98FM, the Le'o 'o e Kakai (Voice of the People) will start broadcasting on March 12 from the Ma'a Fafine mo e Famili centre, Fasi, Nuku'alofa.
Betty Blake the President of the Ma'a Fafine mo e Famili Inc said that the Le'o 'o e Kakai will be broadcasting daily, Monday to Friday from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm and their daily program will feature mainly women and youth issues.
The Ma'a Fafine mo e Famili Inc was issued with a Broadcasting License by the Prime Minister, Lord Tu'ivakano on March 6, and he congratulated Betty and the Ma'a Fafine mo e Famili on their effort to provide another mean for the voices of women and youth in the communities to be heard.
Betty thanked the Prime Minister and his Government for their license and said that the FM station is an important tool for NGOs to have, to be able to reach out to the community.
"This is what this radio station is going to do, it will make voices of women and youths in communities that are not usually heard be heard."
She said running a radio is not easy and the operation will be funded from their own pockets. "We plan to invite advertisers to join because we need funding to pay for our costs and maintain a consistent service," she said.
The radio is operated by eight women led by Bale Huni, all of them have been training in broadcasting during the past months.
Trial-run
The radio was fist given a temporary license by the Ministry of Communications last year. It then held a trial run from September 19-23, 2011 and tested out that they were not interfering with the frequency of any other radio stations in the capital.
The radio station was established within the Regional Women's Media and Policy Network coordinated by FEMLINKPACIFIC and the Generation Next Project and supported with funds from AUSAID and Canada Fund.
The 100-watts transmitter can be heard by listeners in a 10-kilometre radius from Fasi.