Letters | Sunday, 05 April 2009

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Know your rights on mobile antennae

I read your article on mobile antennae with interest, however I feel that your articles lack verifiable feedback in that you have stated that people have complained about ugliness and not wellbeing. In my particular situation, with an antenna within 15m from my bedroom, I can attest to the following: severe interference with my TV and DVD remotes; interference with my TV; EMF radiation suffering.
To be fair I only experienced these effects when Melita Cable were testing their equipment and the radiation levels reached 2 watts per square metre, however having said this the testing lasted approximately two and a half weeks.
The MCA outright stated that it was impossible that there was interference with my TV/DVD, claiming that one utilises microwave technology while the other infrared technology. However they retracted (this time verbally) their statement when, upon a bit of research, I stumbled across the fact that these antenna release chaotic frequencies which do cause interference.
MCA is also ignoring the fact that there exists what is known as a protected parallel piped (aka forbidden zone) which is effectively a five-metre distance from the antenna where no one should be permitted to enter let alone live in. In serious regions such as Catalunya this zone is extended to 10 metres. Furthermore, within residential areas and schools this distance is increased fivefold (50m).
It is also worth mentioning that in Catalunya the authority takes two readings per second for each mast. In Malta the MCA sent over a technician who could not even explain his own readings. He just kept saying that the reading was below 2% of the permitted level. The permitted level in Malta is 10 watts per square metre irrespective of the distance a person is subjected to.
Two more points worth mentioning: both Sweden and the UK acknowledge EMF radiation sufferers by legislation. Malta doesn’t; and New Zealand courts have reduced INCDR/WHO permissible levels by 5,000 times.

Peter Pace Balzan
Swieqi

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