January 6th is always a special day in Accompong Town but this year a new birthday besides Colonel Kujo’s birthday took its place in town. A radio station was born.
Personally, I was a little skeptical as to what would be the quality of programming on a 24 hour a day basis by inexperienced on air “jocks”. I have been a little involved since learning of the launch date so I provided some of my music to add to the programming and (along with Nicholas Da Silva of Irie Magazine) we provided the twenty members of the crew black tee shirts which will later be silk-screened and become the official uniforms.
The station is called “Abeng” at 88.7 FM on the radio and soon will be available over the internet as soon as streaming becomes available. The "Abeng" is the name of the horn used for communicating over the Cockpits. I am not too sure of the range of the signal but will be testing the coverage on a later trip to Negril this month.
I can honestly say that I now have a new favorite radio station. I am a big KOOL 97.3 fan so it takes a lot of quality to make me switch but this station delivers! The music runs constantly and the only interruption breaks are a few Informational stories, tips and history from the elders of the community which I find very interesting.
I enjoyed my time rubbing elbows with some politicians some of whom I met at earlier functions like Ombudsman Donna Parchment, Sid Bartett, Andrew Holness (Opposition Spokesman) and the Mayor of Black River which is the seat of government for St. Elizabeth.
I am very proud of my fellow residents of Accompong Town. I love the citizens and I love the town. I have lived in many places both in the US and abroad but no place is even close to the quality of life in Accompong Town.
Peace and Guidance
