CELLPHONE network giant MTN said it is confident of getting the approval for a contentious cellmast near a residential complex despite a wall of opposition to the proposed project in uMhlanga.

Residents from Umhlanga Manors have reacted angrily to plans to build a 25m high cellphone mast on a piece of land metres away from the nearest home.

Residents cited health concerns among others as the primary reason for their disapproval.

However in a statement to Northglen News MTN SA said a large number of international studies have been performed over the last two decades to assess whether the radio frequency signals emitted by equipment on masts and mobile phones pose a potential health risk.

“To date, no adverse health effects have been shown to occur from radio frequency signals emitted from telecommunication base stations or mobile phones. MTN, as a responsible corporate citizen, has the interests of the communities in which it operates in at heart.

“MTN has an on-going program to monitor exposure levels at their base station sites, and to ensure that no member of the public gets exposed to radio frequency fields that exceed the internationally accepted health and safety guidelines.

“MTN will seek to work with local communities and key stakeholders as far as practicable to find sustainable network deployment solutions. Furthermore, MTN will endeavour to provide access to the latest information on mobile phone base stations and health,” MTN SA said.

Tracey-Lee Dorny, from the Electromagnetic Radiation Research Foundation of SA, however, rubbished claims made by MTN saying that the health risks associated with cell masts were numerous.

“Immediate responses would be nausea, rashes, itching and burning skin, headaches or severe pains in the head, heart palpitations, liver dysfunction, epilepsy, autism, ADD and of course CNS ( Central Nervous System ), disorders and many forms of cancers.

“Children are particularly vulnerable to electromagnetic radiation and other countries are protecting them with legislation.” Dorny said once the tower or antennae was up it becomes impossible to have them removed.
“People have found it impossible to sell homes that have towers next to them or nearby so it also affects property value,” she said.

Richard Edwards, chairman of the Umhlanga Manors Homeowners Forum, said residents have voiced overwhelming opposition to the proposed mast. He added no reasons were given as to why the mast was needed.

But the cellphone network said the mast was needed in the area to improve in-building 3G and LTE (LTE stands for Long Term Evolution and is a new 4G wireless broadband standard) coverage and capacity in the surrounding residential suburb and newly developing commercial area.

“MTN’s vision is to ensure that sufficient telecommunications infrastructure is in place to cater for the anticipated growth in the demand for high speed data services within the Ridgeside area.”

If granted approval the cell mast will be 15m away from the nearest house.

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