Phone Masts Bad
New Vision (Kampala)
September 13, 2005
http://allafrica.com/stories/200509130246.html
Ebenezer Bifubyeka
Kampala
National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) has cautioned that people staying under or near mobile telephone masts risk contracting brain cancer. According to NEMA's western regional coordinator, Jeconious Musingwire, ultra-violent rays that come out of the phone masts are cancerousa.
"NEMA has directed mobile phone companies country wide to carry out an environmental impact assessment (EIA) at the sites before putting up new masts," he said.
Musingwire said NEMA has also asked the owners of telephone companies including MTN, UTL and Celtel to hire firms to carry out an environmental audit for the masts already in place.
He was answering a question on what impact the ultra-violent rays produced by these masts have on the people residing around them. He said such rays affect the human brain, especially the children.
Misingirwe said some telephone masts are installed above residential houses, compounds, schools and commercial buildings in towns. He cited an example of the mobile telephone network (MTN) mast-set up at the peak of Pearl House (the five-storey building that houses Radio West) in Mbarara town. He added that they recommend 20 meters space away from these telephone masts as a protected zone. "Most people living around these masts are ignorant of the dangers involved. Landlords should be sensitised about the health effects of the rays produced by telephone masts," he said.