News | Sunday, 01 February 2009

PRINT THIS ARTICLE

More mobile antennas in Safi square

‘They’re really ugly, but we can’t do anything’ – mayor Peter Paul Busuttil

James Debono
Safi mayor Peter Paul Busuttil has said he can’t do anything about three mobile phone antennas that have been installed on rooftops in the locality’s quaint village square, “even if they are really ugly”.
The antennas have been installed on the band club’s roof, the parish priest’s residence and on a private home inside the village core.
“They have to be installed somewhere but they are really ugly and have ruined the character of the square,” Busuttil told MaltaToday.
But the mayor insists the council is powerless because the Malta Environment and Planning Authority issued the necessary permits for the antennas.
Busuttil criticised the procedure used to approve the permits. “One can only make submissions before such permits are approved, but you only learn of such development after it is approved.”
Permits for the installation of antennas do not even need a full planning permit. They are issued on the strength of a development notification order – a fast-track planning procedure normally applied for minor alterations.
Critics say telecoms companies manage to get such permits, without consideration for neighbours’ concerns, and by finding just one person willing to install the antenna in return of the hefty annual payment.
One of the antennas installed is just five metres away from a neighbour’s bedroom.
Safi residents contacted this newspaper after reading that Lija mayor Ian Castaldi Paris had presented a judicial protest, holding Melita plc and the Communications Authority responsible for any harm caused to residents living in Preziosi Street, where an antenna was installed.
“Lija residents are lucky to have a mayor who takes action. Our council should follow his example,” a Safi resident told MaltaToday.
MaltaToday received similar complaints from Mellieha and Zabbar.
Apart from aesthetic considerations, residents are mostly worried about possible harmful effects from radiation from these base stations.
A number of scientific reports associate radiation from mobile phone antennas with increased incidence of cancer. 3,000 medical practitioners from all over the world signed the Freiburger Appeal, which expresses their concern on the effects of mobile phone technology, including masts, on their patients.
But both the World Health Organisation and the European Commission dismiss these claims, insisting that emissions from mobile phone antennas are harmless.
The Malta Communications Authority also insists that it strictly abides guidelines set by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection on the permissible levels of emissions from mobile phone antennas.
Residents objecting to the proliferation of antennas in residential areas have recently set up an association called Antenna Caution Malta, which is opposed to the siting of base stations next to schools and residential areas.
“We don’t want these antennas forced onto our families who are being treated like mice in a laboratory… we have the right to live without any fear or doubt that our health and our families health is at risk,” a spokesperson for the association told MaltaToday.

Any comments?
If you wish your comments to be published in our Letters pages please click button below.
Please write a contact number and a postal address where you may be contacted.