'What's going on': Norfolk Island emergency number down since May
The number has been faulty since early May.
Photo:
Norfolk government
A Norfolk Island local says people are outraged that the emergency or 000 number is still down.
The number has been faulty since early May.
Norfolk Island regional council acting general manager Philip Reid said there is still no timeline for when the number is expected to be working again.
"An engineer from the contracting company delivering core network services, including 000 calling capability, is currently onsite troubleshooting. The community will be advised once the issue is resolved," Reid said.
He said the problem is with the dial-tone multifrequency function for Norfolk Island's emergency calling service.
Norfolk Island is an external territory of Australia located beween New Caledonia and New Zealand. It is a short 2.5-hour flight from Auckland.
Norfolk Island is located between New Caledonia and New Zealand.
Photo:
https://www.norfolkisland.com.au
Community member Brett Sanderson said communication from the council has been "pretty appalling".
"It's not clear, it's often very opaque, it seems to be a case where we have to read between the lines to ascertain what's going on," Sanderson said, who is part of the group Norfolk Island People For Democracy, which is fighting for the Australian territory to govern itself.
"It's an accident waiting to happen, and that's what the community is very worried about."
As an interim arrangement, police, fire and hospital have individual landline numbers to call.
Text messages are being sent out daily with the alternative numbers and are being played on the radio.
Reid said the information was also being distributed to visitors on arrival at Norfolk Island Airport and via accommodation.
Sanderson said he thought the emergency number being down was connected to the wider mobile network that is "limping along" and "on it's last legs".
"I'd say it works about 60 percent of the time and the other 40 percent of the time, it's in the hands of the gods."
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