Telecom operators should seek clearance from EPA - Sepogah

Cape Coast, Oct. 22, GNA - Telecommunication network operators have been asked to seek clearance from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), before installing masts, to forestall their demolition. A senior programmes officer at the Central Region office of the EPA, Mr. Godwin Sepogah made the call at a media sensitization workshop, organized by MTN, a telecommunication network company, to make journalists abreast of developments in the industry, in Cape Coast on Thursday. He explained that the haphazard way of erecting these facilities could affect water bodies and afforestation and said that the EPA would carry out a research to ascertain whether it was safe to erect mast at every given location.

Mr. Sepogah explained that before any telecommunications operator sites a mast, he or she must fill an "assessment and a neighbourhood consent forms", have a site plan that has been duly signed by a competent surveyor, and submit the documents to the EPA for assessment.

The Agency he said, would submit a report of its assessment to a 'technical review committee' for clearance, and deplored the practice of operators in the industry who have gone ahead to site masts without waiting for clearance as to whether or not do so. Mr. Sepogah cited an operator whom he claimed had Collected 10 impact assessment forms but did not wait for clearance before starting work and cautioned operators in the industry to desist from such acts. Mr. Reuben Opata, Radio Planning Officer at MTN, gave an overview of the industry and said that the sector had developed rapidly since 1876, when the first telephone was successfully invented by Alexander Graham. He said from the 1980s to date, mobile phones had gone through a lot of transformation, from analogue to digital and currently, the MTN had launched the 3.5G services and subscribers had the opportunity of accessing a wide range of services.

The MTN, Mr Opata said also on daily basis checked its various services to find out weak and low areas in order to improve upon them adding that the fibre optic technology was to ensure efficiency in connectivity and boost services.

Ms Efua Falconer, acting external communications officer of MTN, was hopeful that the workshop would help provide the media with the right information on the industry to enable journalists overcome challenges facing them. Mr. Solomon Gyimah, the Site Acquisition Manager, said the company carried out comprehensive public education and ensured the people of compliance by the regulatory bodies before sitting its masts. 22 Oct 09