Residents see red over new cell tower

Toti residents object to a cellphone tower erected this week on the Doonside reservoir property in School Road.

Deena Buys, who lives in close proximity of the tower, on Monday, 27 July queried why residents were not afforded the right to object.

When the Sun visited the site with Deena on Wednesday morning, 29 July a notice had since been posted on the entrance gate to the property, allowing residents one month to object.

However a walk to the top of the hill revealed construction was almost complete and the tower is set to go ‘live’ on Friday, 7 August.

“We only noticed parts of the tower being delivered two or three weeks ago and that’s when we became aware of it,” said Deena.

“A tower should not be this close to a school. We moved away from the highway and towers three years ago and now we have one in our backyard.”

Numerous studies have been done on the effects on people living in close proximity to towers and their exposure to the low levels of radiation towers emit and whether it is cancer-causing, especially in young children.

“We can limit what our children eat and do to protect them from cancer, but now we get a cellphone tower emiting levels of radition forced on us. If there is only a minimal chance of danger to the public or wildlife in the area, it is not worth it.”

Construction on the tower began on 1 June.

The site foreman, who did not wish to be named, said they do not know who placed the notice on the gate, as all permissions and paperwork was granted and completed before construction on the tower began.

He also informed the Sun it is an MTN fibre optic station and not a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) tower, which emits harmful radiation. However, he also said the network could change or add to the tower unfettered once it is up.

“This is unbelieveable, because they can put anything on it now that it is up and there’s no objection to it,” said Deena. “They can even change it to an GSM tower and there’s nothing residents will be able to do.”

Ward 97 councillor, Andre Beetge responded to the Sun’s query as follows: “The mast erected within the boundary of the reservoir located on erf 113 (33 School Road), Amanzimtoti is an MTN initiative to enhance reception in the area and surrounds that include nearby Bhekulwandle. It takes the form of a tree to blend into the surrounding area.

All due processes were followed from inception that included invitation to lodge written objections within a specified period as part of the public participation process.

Approval was sought and extended by South African Civil Aviation Authority on 28 May, 2013.

Notice for special consent was published in The Mercury’s ‘town planning’ section on 28 March, 2014.

A notice was attached to the property and surrounds inviting public participation comment for the period 28 March, 2014 to 2 May 2014 (30 days).

Registered letters were sent via the SA Post Office to addresses identified by the municipality as being possible affected parties on 28 March, 2014.

With no objection being received by the end of the notice period, the department of sustainable development and city enterprises extended special consent under reference CU006/13/south region on 25 July, 2014 – one of several conditions being that the national and international regulations, standards and recommendations for exposure to radio waves in accordance with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Commission of Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) safety margins are complied with.

The economic development and planning unit extended final approval for application SR14080003 on 15 August, 2014.

Construction commenced within a 12-month period of approval with completion set for middle of August (weather permitting) – another condition is that work has to commence within a period of 18 months from approval.

“Enquiries regarding the notice inviting public participation and attached to the parameter of the same property on Tuesday, 28 July by JW Consulting revealed the start of a new process in which Vodacom has also identified the site as being ideal for a mast. However, given that the MTN construction is complete and that provision has been made to accommodate other parties or service providers, the possibility of an agreement between MTN and Vodacom to rather share the MTN mast cannot be ruled out.

Similar to other construction projects, I conducted regular site visits and copies of relevant documentation regarding the site are on record,” said Cllr Beetge.

Deena questioned why the notice was placed in a paid-for newspaper and not the local Sun and said they never received any registered letter. She has vowed not to rest until residents’ objections are heard. If you object to the cellphone tower going up, email your objections to totitrader@gmail.com.