Penampang, July 04, 2009: Disgruntled residents of Taman Tanaki are appealing to the State Government to stop the construction of a telecommunications tower next to their homes here.
They claimed it was against the Government's people first policy and pointed out there are still vast tracts of land in the area to erect such a tower.
The project undertaken by a government-owned company, Common Tower Technologies Sdn Bhd (CTTSB), appears to be continuing despite objections they raised during a dialogue two weeks ago.
The residents also claimed they were not convinced by the explanation and reassurance on the effects of the tower by the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission representative during the dialogue.
A 60m tower is being built adjacent to a newly-completed housing estate and its residents have protested, claiming it is unsafe.
The tower's presence would also devalue their homes, which they started moving into in February before the tower project started in May.
A resident claimed in the dialogue, which was also attended by Moyog Assemblyman Donald Mojuntin, that they were told the matter would be brought to the higher authorities.
"But when I saw a report in the newspaper stating that we have been 'reassured of the ill effects', that is wrong because we were not convinced at all," said the resident who declined to be named.
"We have also measured the distance from the tower to the nearest home and its 25.8m not over 30m as claimed by the company so how can it be in compliance with all the technical requirements?"
"The Government talks about its people first policy but here they put the tower first before consulting us or even the district council who told us they did not know anything about it," the resident said.
Another resident, Aaron Young said, because of the distance between the house and the tower the company would likely still need to dismantle the tower. "If that is the case, then they might as well move it to a different location because it would incur the same amount in costs anyway," he said.
A houseowner who has yet to move because of the tower said there was still a lot of land which was less populated compared to where their homes are.
"Why must the company pick this area, next to a newly-completed housing estate? I am sure there are a lot of people willing to lease their land in other areas.
CTTSB Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Haji Rahman Ghani, had said that the construction of the telecommunications tower was done with the blessing of the State Government through a fast track approval procedure.
CTTSB, a State-backed company, is a subsidiary jointly owned by Warisan Harta Sabah Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned investment holding company of the State Government and KKIPC Sdn Bhd.
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