Dradenya Amazia
25 September 2008
Kampala — The Grade One Magistrate's court in Moyo district has stopped mobile phone giant MTN from constructing a mast.
In a letter of September 18, Magistrate Alex Mushabe ordered MTN to stop the construction of the mast in Paecoa-logo village (Lechu), Eremi parish in Metu sub-county.
"The respondent immediately stops the construction of a telephone mast on the suit land till final determination of the application for temporary injunction," the order read.
Mushabe added that a ruling on who would meet the costs of the application would await the outcome of the main application.
The order followed a complaint by the landlord, Saverino Odendi, that MTN trespassed on his customary land, which he used to cultivate food for his family.
"In May and September, MTN through its workmen, trespassed on my land, excavated a foundation, unloaded building materials and started construction of a telephone mast.
"I was not consulted nor did I authorise the acts as the landlord where a mast was being constructed," Odendi stated in his affidavit.
On July 16, the district environment office wrote a letter to MTN stopping the construction citing lack of an environmental impact assessment report from the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA).
Efforts to get a comment from MTN were futile as most of its officers in the area were not available.
However, sources said the order was served to the company and was received by one of the bosses at the site, who signed for it on September 23.
Early this year, Moyo district chairman Peter Iku Dolo, accused MTN of illegally constructing a mast in Moyo town and wanted his council to pass a resolution to remove the mast.
In February, NEMAâ-àsaid three main telecommunications companies had built 743 masts without its permission. It said erecting many masts destroys a place's beauty.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 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.
