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| Home News | | Radiation from phone towers ‘not harmful’ | JACOB KAMBILI in Mwanza
Daily News; Monday,June 30, 2008 @00:03
| Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) has given the general public guarantee that Tanzanians living close to mobile phone towers will not be adversely affected by radiation-laden signals.
The Deputy Director of TCRA Operation for the Lake Zone, Mr Victor Nkya, gave the assurance at a one-day "Public Education Workshop" held over the weekend at Bank of Tanzania (BoT) institute here.
However, he advised people living near towers that produce signals by electronic means as radio and television waves to be “extremely careful” saying that even a brief exposure to the waves may have adverse effects on their health.
The TCRA official was trying to dispel rumours currently spreading here about mobile telephone towers, noticeable almost on all hills surrounding Mwanza City, that radiation emitted will have serious harm on the residents' health.
Responding to probing questions put to him by the 20 participants at the workshop organized by TCRA, shortly after making his his presentation, Mr Nkya assured them that radiation levels from the mobile phone towers is generally so low that it might not be harmful even after prolonged exposure.
"There is no cause for alarm because the fact that the level of radiation is harmless has been ascertained by the International Transmission Union (ITU), World Health Organization (WHO), Phone companies, Tanzania Radiation Commission and the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM)", he said.
A curious participant had earlier on claimed that there is either higher risk of miscarriage in some pregnant women admitted to Bugando Medical Centre (BMC) here or have actually suffered the miscarriages already as a result of radiation emitted by towers placed atop the nine-storey complex.
On the signals produced by radio and televison waves, particularly from towers found in residential hilltops like Nyashana, the Deputy Director suggested that efforts should be made to evict the squatters from the unsurveyed area to avoid health problems.
Meanwhile, in his welcoming remarks, the Zonal TRCA Manager, Mr Erasmus Mbilinyi, expressed concern over some communication stakeholders here, whom he said, grossly contravened the Athority's Act of 2003.
"For example, out of the 211 people who own radio calls in Mwanza region, only 110 were licensed while only three out of 50 companies are licensed to sell electric communication equipment, he said.
According to him, available statistics show that out of 24 security groups, only five operate legally; out of the 42 vessels that ply Lake Victoria with a carrying capacity of over 50 tonnes, only 20 have radio calls.
He also said that out of 12,000 small vessels, with carrying capacity of under 50 tonnes, only Tanzania Fisheries Union (TAFU) has radio calls. On his side, an Engineer with Surface and Marine Transport Authority (SUMATRA), Mr Alfold Waryana, clarified that normally vessels that are registered with his Authority are those fitted with radio calls and with seaworthiness certificates.
Other general requirements that are to be met, he said, include possession of effective inter-communication and hydraulic systems particularly for those plying distant routes. Those plying short routes should possess the "VHF", a device used for detecting rocky landscapes in the Lake. | | View Visitor's comments on this Story
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