In an effort to dispel accusations of exposing Lonehill residents to hazardous electromagnetic fields, MTN released a scientific report which is loaded with figures.
Read MTN to relocate Blandford tower as demanded by Lonehill residents
MTN roped in the services of FFEMSS Consulting, experts in the field of human exposure to electromagnetic fields and are specialists in the area of assessing human exposure to cellular technology.
The consultancy found that the health hazard which the Lonehill residents were complaining about was fictional. “The results obtained show that the EMF [electric and magnetic field] exposure is at least 45 times below the International Commission of Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) general public guideline. In other words, the EMF exposure from the proposed installation will be compliant in terms of the ICNIRP guidelines, as subscribed to by the South African Department of Health,” reads part of the recently released report.
The report followed after a Lonehill group of residents calling itself Think Community took up arms against the Lonehill Residents’ Association (LRA), MTN and ward councillor Stephen Moore. The group sounded a health scare alarm which the FFEMSS report shot down as nonexistent.
Scores of residents expressed their health concerns to Fourways Review after MTN installed 13 cellular towers in their neighbourhood. The towers are part of a fibre broadband project which MTN is rolling out in Lonehill to improve the quality of cellphone reception and internet services speed. The project also comes with CCTV cameras to fight crime in the area.
LRA director, John Siddall, volleyed back at Trevor Nel of Think Community, who he accused of creating a false alarm by making health allegations which were not backed by facts and evidence. Nel, however, sang a different tune this week. He said the allegations were made by residents of Blandford and not him.
The report confirms MTN’s general manager for radio planning and optimisation, Krishna Chetty’s safety claims. “MTN has complied with all health and safety regulations governing the construction of such infrastructure,” said Chetty.
The health furore spilt to Lonehill from Paulshof after a resident, Neil Garrard claimed that his research on the www.EMF-Health.com website revealed that more people were diagnosed with cancer when they lived within 100m of cellular towers.
The consultancy’s report instead maintained that radiation exposure to human beings drops drastically if the antennas were built in a developed area rather than in a free space.
“In reality the electronic magnetic field exposure levels would drop considerably inside buildings and houses,” reads part of the report.
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