Córdoba shuts down antenna

The political skirmish between Córdoba province and the national government continued yesterday after Governor José Manuel de la Sota ordered the closure of a property where the installation of an antenna, which would have provided the Río Cuarto district with Digital Television, was about to be completed.

The antenna, which is more than 120 metres tall and was built with state-of-the-art technology by the state company Invap for ArSat, another state company, is located on grounds owned by the province power company, Epec.

De la Sota and ArSat signed a deal to allow the company to operate on the property less than a year ago. However, yesterday morning members of the province Environment Secretariat entered the site and, with the assistance of the provincial police force, prevented workers employed by the national government from performing their tasks.

Environment Secretary Federico Bocco justified yesterday’s intervention because “the assembly (of the antenna) is illegal,” on the grounds that the national government had not provided the required studies.

In response, Alberto Cantero, director of Argentina Radio and Television (RTA), accused De la Sota of an “institutional assault.”

According to Cantero, “the Córdoba police officers sent by the governor blocked the entrance to the site where the antenna is located and the transmission facility for open digital television for the city of Río Cuarto and its area of influence.”

The RTA director insisted that “the police shut the place down with no prior warning or announcement.”

“Construction of the antenna began five months ago, and yesterday test transmissions had been held, which shows that there is clearly an intention to produce financial and social damages, because this act left over 250,000 inhabitants of the surrounding area without open television,” said Cantero.

— Herald with Ambito.com