Thursday, June 18, 2009

ASAMANG RESIDENTS RESIST SITING OF MAST (PAGE 14)

TENSION is mounting at Asamang in the Ashanti Region over an attempt by Vodafone, a telecommunication company, to erect a mast in a residential area.
Last Monday, enraged residents chased away workers who were preparing the site for the erection of the mast.
Vodafone has paid compensation to the traditional authorities for the land and believed that they had the legal right to the land.
However, the residents said it was better for the company to go for the money because there was no way they would allow them to put up the mast.
When the Daily Graphic visited the town last Monday, the situation had calmed down a little as the men working on the site had left.
However, some residents who had gathered at the scene accused the traditional authorities of giving the go-ahead for the company to work in the area when there was every indication that it would have negative effects on the life of the people.
They, therefore, appealed to the Minister of Environment, Science and Technology to intervene to prevent the eruption of any nasty situation.
A spokesman for the residents, whose building is very close to the project site, Mr Kwabena Konadu, said the site was purely a residential area and children constituted the majority of the population.
He stated that the location of the mast could pose health hazards to the people especially children.
Mr Konadu said media reports had quoted experts as saying that radiation from the telecommunication mast could have affects on brain activity.
Accordingly, he called on the authorities to ensure that the proper thing was done.

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