Telecom towers put up illegally

IPOH: Three telecommunication transmission towers have been erected illegally on top of shoplots in Taman Cempaka, said state Local Government Committee chairman Datuk Chang Ko Youn.

He said the Ipoh City Council enforcement unit would be dismantling the towers.

The council, he said, must be firm in preventing telecommunication companies from further violating regulations on installation of transmission towers.

“One tower has been here for nearly a year while the other two were erected recently. We don’t know how these companies could have erected the towers without approval from the relevant authorities,’’ he told reporters after inspecting the towers with Canning Garden state assemblyman Datuk Hiew Yew Can recently.

On claims by residents that the towers was hazardous to health, Chang said there was no evidence to date to support the claim.

A study carried out by Telekom Malaysia in 1996 showed that waves emitted by the transmitters were harmless, he said.

In the study, Telekom had used the International Radiation Protection Association and Safety Code Six formula issued by the Department of National Welfare of Canada, he said.

Meanwhile, Taman Cempaka action committee chairman Chan Fun Lam said that residents had complained to the council about the tower from June last year but no action had been taken.

“We submitted another complaint letter in April this year and sought the help of the state assemblyman,’’ he said, adding that residents were glad the state had asked the council to dismantle the towers.

Datuk Bandar Datuk Talaat Husain urged residents to inform authorities of illegal telecommunication structures in residential areas.

Commenting on claims of four such structures in Taman Chempaka, Talaat said he had not received official complaints.

“We need feedback as the towers are not very large and not easy to spot. Report to us and we will send officials to investigate and take action,’’ he said during the city's second annual cooking competition in Dataran Ipoh yesterday.

He was responding to a statement by state DAP public complaints bureau director Chong Tat Cheong that Taman Chempaka residents claimed that electro-magnetic waves from the towers had reduced their immunity against diseases.

The statement, which on Saturday called on Talaat to take immediate steps to dismantle the towers, said that two middle-aged residents had become victims of throat cancer and uterus cancer.

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