New Video/Audio System Installed in National Assembly Chambers
A modern system has been installed in the National Assembly. It will facilitate the broadcast of live proceedings of the House and Senate by media houses who will be able to connect to the feed for transmission. The upgrade was partly funded by the Government of Taiwan and has been in the making since 2019. News Five’s Hipolito Novelo reports.
Hipolito Novelo, Reporting
A new video/audio system has been installed in the chambers of the National Assembly Building in Belmopan. Speaker of the House Laura Tucker Longworth on Friday said it was part of the security measures to improve the facilities used by media houses that broadcast proceedings of the meetings from both the House of the Representatives and Senate.
The new system includes three cameras, installed to capture multiple angles- two on each side and one above the entrance of the chamber. Director of Press Office, Dorian Pakeman, says that each media house will now be able to connect to the live video/audio feed from the system.
Dorian Pakeman
Dorian Pakeman, Director of Press Office
“In September 2019, we took the initiative, the National Assembly got funding from the Taiwanese government along with FOPREL to retrofit the media gallery in the National Assembly. That was in order to make it a little bit more media friendly. As you the National Assembly if not one of the first probably might be the first building ever built in Belmopan, if not one of the first. The building is somewhat outdated. So what we wanted to do is kind of modernize it.”
The system also includes a studio quality mixing board switcher installed to enhance the production quality. It is also comprised of a digital recorder which enables members of the media to download and transfer footage in real time cutting down our production time. And in times of COVID-19 the new system also eliminated the clutter of cameras.
Dorian Pakeman
“Especially in times of COVID and social distancing it been kind of hard to have the media all bunched up together in one limited area and you have eight to ten cameras side by side. So actually we had to go into overdrive and get this up and running so we are here now and it is about ninety percent complete now.”
The estimated value of the investment is sixty thousand Belize dollars. Pakeman says that the investment is also beneficial to the public.
Dorian Pakeman
“The benefit of the public is that you the media and now the public we are capable of streaming everything live. We installed PGT cameras that are set in three strategic places in the National Assembly and for every single house and Senate Meeting you will get a live stream. So we are making information to the public.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Hipolito Novelo.
