Only a handful answer the siren call – but the SOS petition continues
Monday 22nd February 2010, 2:29PM GMT.
Marchers make their way from La Salerie towards Frossard House, where they handed in a petition. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 0921351)
NEARLY 30 Save Our Sirens campaigners marched through Town yesterday in an effort to get their voices heard.
They walked from Salerie Corner to Sir Charles Frossard House where they handed a 250-signature petition to Home minister Deputy Geoff Mahy. They want the department to review its decision to drop the early warning siren system.
‘The turnout is disappointing but people have other things to do and there’s other ways in which they can show their support, such as the petition, which will be an ongoing thing,’ said organiser Amie Gillott.
Elizabeth College student James Aldous-Granby, 15, had 2,156 messages of support for a campaign he launched on the internet social networking site, Facebook.
‘For me, on Liberation Day and Remembrance Sunday, the whole island is made aware of what the sirens are for,’ he said.
‘And the idea of replacing them with text messages is highly flawed.’
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I unfortunately couldn’t make it this Sunday, but will try to sign the petition!
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Jeez… do these people have nothing better to do with their time? These sirens are an outdated relic from the past. There is no use for them in today’s society, either from a technological point of view, or from a current threat point of view! I guarantee if they went off today, 99.9% of the population would just look at each other and then ignore them!
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I think the siren warnings are part of Guernsey tradition and definately should not be stopped!
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Here’s a thought, why don’t BBC Gsy and Island FM broadcast the sound of the sirens at the appropriate times to satisfy the “its all part of Guernsey tradition” brigade, that way everybody that wants to hear the delightful drone will know where to find it. Simples.
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Janet
Why not keep the other part of the tradition which was running for your life when they were heard.
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I’m no expert on this subject at all, but surely if something awful were to happen, and some kind of emergency system were needed, then the radio stations and text messaging system are flawed.
For example, recently when there was a short power-cut in St Sampsons, Island FM went off the air briefly. This would presumably happen to BBC Radio Guernsey in similar circumstances. And, in such an event, not everyone will have access to a radio anyway.
With regards to text messages, last week one evening I experienced a couple of hours where I had no mobile telephone coverage, along with many other people I know. There are also many people who do not own mobile telephones.
If something awful were to happen in Guernsey, then the probability of there being no radio/mobile communication due to lack of power is surely greater?
I’m not sure how the sirens react to a lack of power, but I imagine that they are more suitable to dealing with an emergency situation.
Hopefully we will never have to find out!
On a more personal point, I feel that the sirens on Liberation Day remind people of the millions of people who were killed not just in WWII but in all the wars before and since. I do not think removing them can be justified by the expense to up-keep them, especially when I’m sure more appropriate and larger savings could be made elsewhere first.
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Business Bloke
Actually thats a good idea to play them through the radio incase of an emergency.
Anna
I think they are still keeping one for the liberation day so you will still hear it.
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Why not instead of getting people to sign a petition, get them to make a contribution.
I’ve rarely seen a petition get anything done anywhere in the world.
Offering to pay for the maintence privately however would make a difference.
Does any one know what the annual cost is, i’m sure the money could be raise or sponsorship found.
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The public worry about how the government spend money but now want apparently £500K plus to be spent on the parts for a system which would never make any difference to the outcome of an emergency.
I can’t believe 250+ people signed their names to such a stupid waste of money. If they want it start fundraising for it!
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It really bugs me seeing photos of young children carrying placards. The two kids on the photo don’t look much older than 8 years old….does anyone seriously think they are old enough to have formulated an opinion on sirens? It borders on child exploitation – adults using children to engender sympathy and support for their own agenda.
On to the issue at hand – 30 people got their voice heard. Over 65,000 people stayed at home – their silence was deafening.
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My apologies – I typed too soon! The kids weren’t carrying placards, it just looked like that on first glance. My sincere apologies to those concerned.
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Sirens should stay.They are apart of guernsey, our history! too much has changed over here as it is. If they dont spend the money to keep them going, they will only waste the money on something else thats not needed or pointless. This rate they will cancel Liberation day too.
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Don’t exaggerate miss unknown – decomissioning some old junk that is no longer fit for purpose is a far cry from cancelling Liberation Day.
Replacing these out of date sirens is no different to upgrading the medical equipment in the Hospital to the latest technology. Funny how nobody is suggesting that we keep medical equipment from the ’40s and ’50s and use that?
By all means, in order to preserve our heritage put one of the sirens in a museum where it belongs, but for goodness sakes don’t waste a fortune maintaining systems long past their sell by date.
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I am thoroughly shocked by that turnout SHOCKED!!
I thought it’d be about 5
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Anna made some very good points there.
I still think the sirens are the most affective way of alerting the population. Fat Jonny, I don`t think a genuine alert would be ignored by the islanders. However, it should perhaps state somewhere how we should react on hearing the sirens. Am I right in thinking there are such instructions in the front section of the phone directory?
Besides, the sheer sound of them reminds us not to forget the horror of war.
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slep – has it ever occurred to you that people who have actually endured the horror of war might not want to be reminded of it unnecessarily?
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I posted on another news story similar to this, and I quoted a chap who used to fix these sirens. He said all they needed were some lubing up and a lick of paint.
So why it would cost “500k” to fix, I very much doubt it.
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Paul Le Page, if the older generation are so upset by the sound of the sirens, I`m amazed then that they`ve never petitioned the States to have them stopped, as far as I know.
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slep – I responded to a similar comment on a previous article about this issue. It should still be around if you care to look.
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Paul.
People who lived through the war are the least likely to not realise that is is Armistis day or Liberation day.
So would probably not be surprised by sirens going off.
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Dear politicians
One big reason for keeping the sirens -watch the news and listen. Chile had an earthquake, 53 countries (hawii, australia, japan, easter island etc) sounded their sirens to alert people of possible danger. 53 small and large countries did not think not having sirens to be unviable. OK so what may happen in Guernsey. Dont just look at your front door look at the back door – what is happening elsewhere. There is a volcano in the canary islands which could colapse into the sea if it does it will most probably trigger a tsumarmi throughout the atlantic so whilst france,spance and portugal are all sounding sirens together with Jersey else poor guernsey will have no way to tell people of pending danger.
Alternatively, we are in the middle of the biggest shipping lane what was to happen if there was a major maritime incident. Or a serious plane crash, the weather is changing you never know what may head towards us from america next, massive hurricane! ANother war!!!!
Please do not say we will have text messaging,because what about people here on holiday, the older generation without phones, children at school (mobiles are not alowed on) the work force as once again most firms do not allow this.
It is £500K quite a bit of money in the grand picture but how much more is the cost of life.
As an idea, if you are staying you cannot aford this considering what you have just sent to Haiti. What is the rainy day fund for which has millions in? This is to protect the island and the people of Guernsey. Which is exactly what the sirens are for.
Ok still not listening, why not raise the money all it will take is one big million pound lottery and most of the money has been raised, the rest could come through contributions. Then all the states have to do is upkeep it.
With what is happening in the world we need to keep this.
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quote from the bbc:
“Well prepared
Warning systems across the Pacific have improved since the 2004 Indonesia quake sparked a tsunami that killed nearly 250,000 people. ”
Ali
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if you google Emergency Alert System
“Initially designed to warn of air raids in World War II, they were adapted to warn of nuclear attack and of natural phenomena such as tornadoes. The generalized nature of the siren led to many of them being replaced with more specialized warnings, such as the Emergency Alert System.”
It will also tell you who has upgrade and the major reasons why.
PLEASE REMEMBER WHAT IS SITTING JUST OFF OUR COAST in France, one of Europes largest nuclear power plants. What would happen if something went wrong esp on an Easterly wind. I will let you decide on this on. This alone warrents the upkeep.
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Ali Moullin if Flamanville or Cap de la Hague went up I really dont think a siren would help us, for a start we have never been told what to do if we heard one, everyone would panic, rush outside to see if old Mrs Le Page next door has heard it, and the rest as they say is history.Or should it be we are history.
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Ali has made some good points there. OK the sirens might not save the islanders from a mega-nuclear explosion at Cap de la Hague (which is most unlikely anyway since it`s a reprocessing plant, not a power station). But in the event of a tsunami or a major chemical leak from a ship in the Channel, or an approaching storm like the one in Oct.1987, the sirens would certainly save many lives then!
Just the events this weekend round the Pacific would prove how invaluable pre-warnings are.
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slep – there is a real and present danger of tsunamis in the pacific and so it makes sense to have a dedicated early warning system for that specific threat. However, we are not in a tsunami zone and so we do not need an early warning system for that issue. There is no point having a siren system thinking that it will help us in any number of random emergencies that may or may not arise – because our required response would differ depending on the emergency and the sirens could not tell us what to do. Sirens work for specific threats like tsunamis and air raids, where everyone knows what to do. I have not yet heard of single threat to Guernsey that justifies a siren system. Most other countries are dismantling theirs or have already done so.
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Most countries have not dismantled them they have upgraded them to Emergency Sirens:
see the list below: france and the UK still have them so do others in Europe.
6 Civil-defense sirens around the world
6.1 Asia
6.1.1 India
6.1.2 Israel
6.1.3 Singapore
6.2 Europe
6.2.1 France
6.2.2 Netherlands
6.2.3 Norway
6.2.4 Switzerland
6.2.4.1 Swiss Alarm Signals
6.2.5 United Kingdom
6.3 North America
6.3.1 Canada
6.3.2 United States
6.4 Oceania
6.4.1 Australia
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TL, that`s not the case in Germany and Switzerland where they still have a comprehensive siren system. Besides a tsunami can occur anywhere in the world, admittedly more often in the Pacific.
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Nearly 30 people turn up.
2156 facebook messages.
So, every time I hear about facebook support for some cause from now on thats the ratio, 70 facebook messages = 1 possibly genuine concern.
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In all my years of living in the UK, I never once heard a warning siren, nor any instructions on what to do if I heard them – a few sirens that no-one uses does not count as an active early warning system.
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TL thank god you never had and hopefully we never will but you have to think of the what if. It will cost £500K to ensure that they are up to date and modern. If they are taken down and in say 20/30 years its realised that this was a mistake and we should have kept them due to something happening then how many millions will it cost to replace. and going on sods law what is the cost of even one life if something does happen and we have no mechanism in place to warn people of danger.
At the moment you dont have to worry as we have something that can be used. but the moment you take it away no doubt it will be required.
What to do if you hear it is in the phone book and people will be switching on tv, radios, mobiles etc (if they work) At least this is a good realible back up system if the other systems are down which they could be.
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I work in Town and can’t hear them on Lib Day.
If they did go off, and I heard them, I’d assume it was a test and ignore them.
If there was a problem at Flammanville then the operator will have to choose between 1) phone Guernsey and let them know they can turn on the sirens, or 2) Try and cover it up. Even if they choose 1) – what are we going to do? Hide in the wardrobe perhaps, or take our chances down at Pleinmont?
If we really need one to use cheaply on Lib Day then make a recording. There are many fine civic-minded youths near me that could play it in their cars and we’d all hear that.
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