Ray and Catrina Attard and 21 other residents (names supplied), Lija
Health hazards caused by antenna
The residents of Sir Luigi Preziosi Street, Lija, were very unpleasantly surprised recently to find that a Melita mobile phone base station antenna had been erected on the roof of one of the houses of character there without prior notice.
Preziosi Street is a narrow road in the village core and consists of houses of character inhabited by a good number of residents within a 15-metre radius of the antenna. Is this what the law and best practice permit? In response to various queries to the Malta Environmental and Planning Athority, we have been informed that no permit is required for such an installation, as long as the structure is constructed 4.5 metres from the façade. That, for them, is the only issue.
Why are telephony and other service providers not regulated at all in this regard? All that is required is for one resident (or in this case the owner of a house rented out to foreign students) to be willing to allow the antenna to be erected on the roof for a hefty annual payment, without any consideration for aesthetics or the wishes of the neighbours, or even, more importantly, the possible health risks involved.
The dangers to health have been documented by various international bodies, but Melita argues that since the health hazards have not been proved, then business should be allowed to proceed. On the other hand, we, as citizens, demand that the precautionary principle be honoured and applied, namely, that if there is doubt as to whether there can be an adverse effect on health, then the erection of such a structure in densely populated residential areas should be banned.
There are now three telephony companies in Malta vying for better reception. Are we to expect more of these antennae to be erected in urban areas without any regulation and safeguards at all? Surely there should be an immediate halt to this practice, and then it would be the responsibility of Mepa and the public health authorities, through a permit application system and criteria that would preclude the erection of such structures in residential areas.
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Mark Bryan
Jan 22nd 2009, 16:14
Well done Ray and Catrina . Unfortunately the Telecomms Industry seems to be ignoring the 'precautionary principle' with regard to the siting of antennas. Again on a rented property as most of them seem to be! My guess is that these landlords DO NOT sleep under an antenna! Are we so used to bad business practice that we just accept it? Many of us assume that when an issue is highlighted it is also being dealt with. History has warned us many times that this is not so!
It is time for all of us to take responsibility for the world within which we live. To think differently is not easy as we have been raised to accept that we must rely on others for almost everything we need; including health advice. To continue in this 'frame of mind' would be a mistake. We need and deserve 'peace of mind' and therefore solutions to these issues.
So, to make things easier come and join the rest of us. If anybody wants to know more about how they can really make a difference please email Antenna Caution Malta at :
antennacautionmalta@gmail.com
david borg
Jan 20th 2009, 14:15
How about having two antennas on the same roof? that's what we residents at Triq il-Htajriet have to put up with.....always with the blessings of Mepa of course, as there seems to be no limit to the number of antennas one can install on the same roof. Proof to this is a building in San Gwann in Triq Bella Vista.
Joe Busuttil
Sep 22nd 2008, 16:56
The usual blabber of with all due respect people who have nothing to do but sit on the internet and play the ignorant judge.
You're complain about having bad mobile reception, and then you complain about a mobile antenna. I'm sure you never complained about a TV antenna being an eyesore (and this is of PERSONAL use, i.e. ONE PER HOUSEHOLD, not to the benefit of hundreds as in a mobile antenna).
@ I Galea, the MCA takes care of Power used in transmission - all three providers do this LEGALLY. WHat you should be worrying about is all those people who transmit illegally from their rooftops or similar.
But to the rest of you, GROW UP and stop complaining and moaning like babies. You cannot have the cake and eat it. Mobile telephony is VERY convenient, yet something has to give and in this case, mobile transmission requires these antennas to be erected. I'm sure no one can live without a mobile phone in this day and age, so instead of grumbling appreciate the technology that we have available! I've had enough of moaners!
R. Buttigieg
Sep 22nd 2008, 11:17
Yes, it is a mobile antenna. Melita can confirm this.
What a shame of MEPA to allow these things happen. It's unbelievable that no permit is needed to put something like this on a house of character especially in the village core!! Even to make a slight alteration one needs a permit. Aesthetically it doesn't fit. It really is an eyesore. There must be some form of regulations where mobile antennas are erected. Surely an alternative location can be found outside the village core. Please MEPA do something.
Ronald Caruana
Sep 21st 2008, 20:48
"The dangers to health have been documented by various international bodies....." Can you please quote references.
PETER MURRAY
Sep 21st 2008, 20:28
Dear Ray and Caterina and others.
We at the Mellieha Residents Association hear you and fully understand your plight as we are fighting the same fight.Please come on board and let's join forces to combat this growing insidious disease with profit over people the only apparent consideration.After all it was'nt so long ago that smoking cigarettes( along with second -hand smoke)or using asbestos as a building material was considered perfectly safe and harmless to health by the so-called experts.Contact:.... pace33@gmail.com for help and support.
Regards Pete
l Galea
Sep 21st 2008, 17:34
@James A. Tyrrell
What I find arrogant and disconcerting is that the mobile service providers have not as yet published the antenna patterns and gain, whether they use beam tilt and the maximum power that they are using.
Why don't they?
As regards health hazards, studies have not excluded effects, but mostly say that no CONSISTENT results have been identified.
James A. Tyrrell
Sep 21st 2008, 16:39
I would have to agree with other comments here that this is indeed not a mobile phone base station antenna but is in fact a VHF antenna. I can see one of these across the road from where I live on the roof of a local taxi firm. Is it possible that someone in the vicinity is operating taxis?
With regard to the concern about the possible dangers of mobile phone base station antenna being a hazard to health, various studies have shown that this is not the case. The RF energy from a mobile phone base station antenna is very low and you would need to be standing right beside it for it to have any effect.
There is however still doubts regarding the possibility of long-term health hazards from the use of mobile phones themselves. These concerns exist because the antennas of hand-held phones deliver much of their RF energy to very small volumes of the user's body. Base station antennas do not create such localised exposures so the potential safety issues concerning the hand-held phones have no real applicability to the base station antennas.
l Galea
Sep 21st 2008, 12:56
It's a VHF antenna, not a mobile base/repeater station
m.mealclaff
Sep 21st 2008, 10:36
It don not look like a mobile telephone antenna to me.
I think it's an antenna used for Vehicle two way radio, marine radio etc.
Franco Farrugia
Sep 21st 2008, 10:29
Do these residents use mobile telephony?
I rest my case.