Residents oppose street pole cell mast
SHARONLEA –The Central Sharonlea residents and Randpark residents say they do not want the street pole cell mast in their area.
Residents recently held a public meeting on issues of the erection of a street pole cell mast on Ebbehout Street.
Chairperson of the Central Sharonlea Resident’s Forum, Richard Shuttle said they do not approve of a mini cell-mast tower without any public notice or participation.
“The attitude of MTN was reflected in their complete rejection of any intention to interact with the community by not attending the meeting even though they were invited,” said Shuttle.
“Ericsson also did not bother to reply to the invite,” he said.
According to Shuttle, MTN stated that they sent out registered letters to affected residents although there is no proof.
“Some of the residents are not even on the MTN list of respondents. MTN also stated that they did not need to consult the public,” Shuttle said.
During the meeting, Tebogo Sehlako from City Power advised the community that they were part of the City’s initiative to create employment as the erection of the cell masts creates opportunities.
“We now have an elegant mast which is also a street light and you can even put a security camera on it,” said Sehlako.
However, residents highlighted that Sehlako was missing the point.
One resident said, “Due to legal process that has not been followed, we don’t want the mast in our suburb. We want it taken down and if you really did your homework correctly, it should be put up on the open ground at the corner of Malibongwe and Mahogany where even better cell phone coverage would be achieved,” said the resident.
Shuttle advised the City officials that the community is going to pursue the matter through legal channels from this point on.
Meanwhile, residents at Randpark launched a petition against the street pole cell mast that has just been erected in their area. “Except two people, nobody else on the petition, including the RRA (Randpark Resident’s Association) in our boomed area, knows anything about this project and all strongly oppose its erection,” said a concerned resident Dale Rich.
So far, 90 people have signed the petition.
“MTN reception has always been fine in this area and I’ve used them for many years. Others have confirmed the same thing. Surely a survey should have been carried out to check this beforehand,” Rich said.
Rich also said the cell mast does not enhance the value of property but rather devalues it.
“What happened to consumer protection?” questioned Rich.
Questions were sent to MTN and comment is awaited.
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