Ministry of Defense Signs Radar Accord with Otepää Municipality
Defense Minister Urmas Reinsalu and the head of Otepää local government, Merlin Müür, signed an agreement whereby the ministry will support residents living near the intended radar position in the area.
“Proposals by the villagers have been considered as much as possible – for example, the ministry will carry out medical checks on residents if needed, check radiation levels and water quality. That means people living in areas around the radar will be looked at a year after the opening of the radar, analyzing how it has affected their quality of life,” said Müür in a press release by the ministry on Thursday.
Reinsalu said the new radar will create ten jobs and the ministry will invest in surrounding infrastructure.
Last year, residents of Pilkuse village, near the proposed site, petitioned the ministry to opt for a different location, but the ministry responded byb saying there are very few sites which meet the technical requirements of a radar post.
The Otepää radar will be the nation’s fourth military radar point, after Kellavere, one at Ämari airbase and the recently opened medium-range air surveillance radar system on Muhu island.
The Otepää post, set for completion in 2014, is part of two Ground Master radars the ministry bought in 2009 as part of a joint tender with the Finnish Air Force, which ordered 12 systems.