The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) has warned owners of telecommunication and broadcasting masts against erecting them in residential areas as they pose health and environmental hazards.
According to Director General of NESREA, Lawrence Anukam, at an interactive forum with operators within the industry on Saturday, the telecom and broadcast masts must be set back by 10 metres or the operators should be ready to face the law.
He said the agency had received plethora of complaints from the public against these infrastructural installations, citing different reasons for their fears.
Anukan noted that “the specific complaints bother on noise and vibrations from the power generation sets, oil pollution, indiscriminate disposal of waste, fear of mast-fall and health effects of electro management frequency (EMF) radiation”.
While calling for a synergy between the regulators and the regulated community, he harped on the need to have a rethink over the situation and maintain a common front with the aim of ensuring environmental friendliness and sustainable development.