Naa Norley
27 October 2009
Accra — With the advent of mobile phones, mobile telecommunication companies operating in the country have started massive erection of communication masts, and residential areas in the capital city have not been spared at all.
A painstaking tour around the Metropolis, revealed that there was as mud rush for available space for the erection of communication masts.
School compounds have also not been spared by these telecommunication companies.
The Accra File learnt that the erection of communication masts in the Metropolis has created a lot of problems between families and friends who do not agree on the siting of the masts, while other cases contesting the siting of masts in certain areas are still pending in the courts.
A tour around parts of the city revealed a different thing altogether, as the file counted about five masts in located in one area.
A cross-section of residents the file spoke to in Accra, were worried over how the masts had been indiscriminately erected all over the city, and called on the appropriate authorities to move into action.
Some residents noted that due to the monies involved, some landlords are selling/leasing their backyards, and any available space around, to the telecommunication companies, depriving tenants the needed luxury of space for proper ventilation due them.
Accra being cosmopolitan area, according to critics, if the erecting or building of masts is not regulated, the city would be overwhelmed.
Anthony Aidoo, a resident of Accra, told the paper, "I had to move from my previous home because of a company (name withheld) was erecting a communication mast right in front of the house I was occupying, and I have little children who play a outside lot."
The effect of telecommunication towers, according to researchers, concerns the effects of exposure to radiation emitted by these masts.
Most residents noted that because these telecommunications are sponsoring a lot of social and educative activities in the country, the authorities have refused to call the companies to order.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has identified scientific studies, which it believes are needed to address the problem of localised exposure from masts.
Reports about the effects of the spread of masts in the country show possible effects such as epileptic type seizures, effects on short-term memory, sleep disorders, as well as increases in leukemia.
According to think-tanks, particular attention should be paid to the effects on children, since most of these masts are sited close to schools in Accra, and in other populated areas.
Regardless of its effects, some households prefer to cook directly underneath, while others work close to the mast, with the worst culprits being mechanics (fitters).
The Accra File gathered that in some areas like Teshie Tsuibleo in the Ledzokuku Krowo Municipality, some telecommunication communication operators met stiff opposition from the residents during the installation of the base system, with the concern that emissions from these base stations might cause cancer in their children.
At a place at La, a communication mast has been sited in a mechanic/fitting shop in spite of the dangers surrounding it, and mechanics told the paper that the landlord sold out the piece of land to the company without thinking about the dangers its poses to the human health.
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