Petition against telco tower

Looming threat: Koh (red shirt) and other residents discussing the dangers posed by the telecommunication tower (background) erected at the Cantonment Road-Biggs Road junction.

thestar.com.my
Thursday December 2, 2010

RESIDENTS of Pulau Tikus in Penang are seeing red over the erection of a 25m-high telecommunications tower at the junction of Cantonment Road and Biggs Road.

They claim that the structure was built on a road reserve and should be dismantled immediately.

The residents submitted a letter of protest to Pulau Tikus assemblyman Koay Teng Hai when he inspected the structure recently.

A resident who only wished to be known as Koh said there was no signboard to indicate the owner and contractor of the tower before the structure was erected.

“At first I thought the clearing work at the site was for landscaping. But, during the recent Hari Raya Aidil Adha, some workers came to put up the tower,” she said.

Koh said the workers claimed they had obtained permission to construct the tower.

“About a week ago, antennas were added to the tower,” she said.

She added that a total of 46 residents from 26 households had signed a petition protesting against the illegal structure.

“We will forward the petition to the state assemblyman’s office to underline our resolve in the matter,” she said.



Antennas on top of the tower.

Meanwhile, Koay said he would bring the matter to the attention of the state government.

“Obviously the telecommunication tower was not built according to regulations,” he said.

He added that he would seek details from PDC Telecommunication Services Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of the Penang Development Corporation (PDC), that constructed the tower.

He said the state government had given telecommunication companies up to the end of this month to regularise their structures.

Koay also added that the state government planned to publish the list of telecommunication towers to be built in the near future.

“The public can go through it and inform the state government if they object to the location of the towers. They can also seek the help of their assemblyman if they have any complaints,” he said.



The base of the 25m-tall telecommunication tower.