The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency has sealed off a new mast belonging to Visafone Telecom.
The Director General of
the agency, Dr. Ngeri Benebo, who gave the directive for the seal-off of
the mast, said the company which erected a base station located at
Okesa area of Ado-Ekiti failed to comply with the NESREA’s guideline on a
setback of 10 metres to the nearest building.
She also said the company did not carry out environmental impact assessment before embarking on the erection of the mast.
The state coordinator of
NESREA, Mr. Adeleke Ajani, who led officials of the agency to seal off
the mast on Friday, said the agency would not tolerate the violation of
the Environmental Impact Assessment Act.
The state coordinator
added that the Visafone mast which was a new one only gave 2.8 metres
and 5.1 metres to the two closest buildings to it instead of 10 metres.
“Base stations erected
before now were mandated to give a five-metre setback but all new masts
must comply with the 10-metre setback.
“Compliance with the 10-
metre-setback is important as this reduces the effect of generator
noise used to power the base station. Also, the impact of the vibration
of such generators would also not be serious on buildings close to them.
“The smoke emitted from
generators at base stations would also not have serious impact on the
health of those living close to the stations if the 10-metre setback is
complied with.”
He urged residents to always report any company which violated any of NESREA’s regulations.
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