10 April 2003
Kampala — The Electricity Act 1999, prohibits people from engaging in any activities within the vicinity of any electrical installations likely to cause danger to lives and property, writes Fred Nangoli
Many people in several American states, are uncomfortable with electricity. They have been living in fear since 1979, when the first study suggested that Electro Magnetic Fields (EMF), those invisible ripples of energy produced by power lines and household wiring, could increase the risk of cancer among people residing and working near high voltage power lines.
In Britain, the situation is likely to reopen campaigns by local groups to have power lines buried underground or moved away from homes.
While in Uganda, the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company (UETCL), the sector in-charge of power transmission, seems to be indirectly sounding a warning to the public of the effects associated with these power lines.
UETCL has threatened to demolish all structures constructed under the high voltage (66 and 132kv) transmission power lines and those within a radius of 15 meters from the centre of the lines, with effect from April 6, this year.
The 66 and 132kv power lines, according to David Luleti, a former electrical engineer with Uganda Electricity Board (UEB), refer to 66,000 - 132,000 kilo volts respectively.
These lines travel along pylons (metallic pillars) and are extremely dangerous to life and property. "On a rainy day, these lines produce a hissing sound and can cause a fire out-break," he says.
This may affect several people and yet could ultimately save them from contracting cancer and other health complications associated with high voltage power lines.
According to sources in UETCL, studies in several parts of the world have shown that power lines contain electoral magnetic fields closely linked to cancer and other health related complications, that are killing people around the world.
The EMF pose long term health effects on those residing and conducting business within the vicinity of these power lines.
"Studies connect power lines to cancer and other related complications," says the source.
Research elsewhere in the world, has also linked cancer to high voltage power cables.
Sir Richard Doll, a British epidemiologist who discovered the link between smoking and lung cancer in the 1960s, warned recently that children living near electricity power lines are at risk of falling victim to leukemia and brain tumours. Doll says similar expectations may be linked to cancer in adults.
Dr. Tusuubira, the director of Information Communication Technology at Makerere University, describes EMF as invisible electromagnetic waves found within the vicinity of power lines.
"There are conflicting opinions about their effects on life but to be safe, it is always better to keep away from power lines," he says.
Sources in UETCL reveal that ordinary distribution power lines flying from poles to residences and industries as well, pose similar threats.
Sir Doll, who has spent months analysing the results of studies on cancer among people living near electricity power lines, has succeeded in convincing the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB), a British Government radiation watchdog to accept that there is a link between cancer and high voltage power lines.
Doll's findings have been backed by Prof. Colin Blakemore, who recently confirmed that there is a risk of those living near power lines contracting cancer.
But Sir Doll's findings, are not all. According to Professor, Dennis Henshaw and Dr. Peter Fews of Bristol University, power lines could be responsible for other serious illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease, that reduce levels of the mood hormone melatonin, in people, leading to depression and acts of suicide.
Dr. Savitz and others from the North Carolina University, also hold this view.
It is also thought that EMF give dust particles a charge, which enables them when breathed in, to be deposit more readily in the lungs, where they often cause the most damage.
More than 2,000 experimental observations by Prof. Henshaw and Dr. Fews have shown that higher levels of particles from vehicle exhaust emissions and naturally occurring radon by-products, are usually present in the vicinity of power lines and pose a danger to our lives.
They observe that increased exposure to chemical and radioactive pollution maybe the reason for the increase in childhood leukemia among children living near power lines, as observed by the UK Childhood Cancer Study.
Henshaw and Fews have also studied the effects of EMFs on brain cells grown in laboratories and suspect that EMF can disturb the normal concentration of calcium ions in the cells, which could trigger off reactions that lead to the accumulation of damaging plaques and tangles in the brain.
A report from the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, indicates that a broad variety of degenerative brain diseases, including Alzheimer's, are the most common among workers exposed to electromagnetic fields.
Sources from UETCL say exposure to high voltage power lines may result into accidents as well.
"You cannot predict accidents but when a 66kV or worst still a 132kV power line breaks due to an overload, fire becomes inevitable. It is therefore better for people's safety that UETCL demolishes these structures," says the source.
But though a lot is being said about the dangers of residing within the vicinity of high voltage power lines, people are reluctant to move.
Sources in UETCL have revealed that several families in Bukoto were compensated by them so as to vacate some danger spots, but have since refused to leave.
Several buildings in parts of Ntinda, Bukoto and Kamwokya lie within the vicinity of high voltage power line.
Other places include isolated buildings found between Lugogo and Mutundwe sub-stations in Kampala.
The survey also showed that several traders in Nakawa market and its surroundings conduct businesses within the vicinity of the high voltage power cables.
Yet the Electricity Act 1999, prohibits people from engaging in any activities within the vicinity of any electrical installations as it is likely to cause danger to people and their property.
People caught in this act commit an offense and are liable to imprisonment not exceeding two years or a fine.
UETCL has also warned that it will prosecute the culprits for the recovery of the costs of demolition and also invoke the Electricity Act to prosecute people found within the vicinity of the power lines.
According to UETCL, three electricity companies exist in Uganda. They include the Generation company that generates power and sells it to the Transmission company, which in turn sells it to the Distribution company, who are in charge of distributing the power to residents and industries.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2003 New Vision. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
