The Coast Guard Administration has announced it is to build or upgrade nearly 80 radar stations around Taiwan's coastline over the next two years to establish an effective automatic monitoring system against illegal immigrants and smuggled goods from China.
The radar network is to be built at the relatively low cost of around NT$600 million, the administration said yesterday, and is aimed at automating coastal monitoring and reducing the current heavy reliance on manpower for coastal patrols.
The administration plans to cut coastal patrol personnel at a rate of 2,000 per year over the next few years while redirecting resources to the establishment of the radar network.
"The personnel downsizing plan will not affect the functioning of the administration since it has been our short and medium-term goal to replace manpower with equipment," a public relations official with the administration said.
"Besides, our current coastal patrol personnel are all sourced from the military. Most of them are conscripts. As we reduce our reliance on manpower for coastal patrols, it means we will ask for fewer and fewer supplies of conscripts from the military over the next few years," said the official, who declined to be identified.
The administration now has around 18,000 military personnel, most of whom are engaged in patrol missions along the 1,500km coastline.
The administration is a unique combination of the former coast guard command of the military, marine police and parts of the customs office's personnel and equipment. It was inaugurated last February.
But the coastal radar network will not completely replace coastal patrol personnel, the administration said -- and a small number of personnel will be kept as mobile reaction teams.
The network is to be composed mainly of short-range radar units covering areas within 44km of the coast. It is to include nearly 80 radar stations, which means that 40 new installations will have to be built. Together, these will cover the entire coastline of Taiwan proper.
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