Mysterious telco tower in Penang

A resident from Paya Terubong recently raised a complaint on a newly built unidentified uni-pole tower at the Kuta Bali Food Court’s car park at Desa Permata.

The presence of the unipole have raised fears over radiation levels from the mysterious tower.

A subsequent search conducted by Komunitikini in Penang did not lead to any conclusive findings except for the fact that the pole has been erected as a telecommunications transmitter.

According to the hawkers at Kuta Bali, they were also surprised to see a tower suddenly appearing at the car park and they had no idea to which organization it belonged to.

“This tower does not belong to us and we do not know why it is being built there. We have also made a complaint to the council and they are looking into it,” said the cashier of Kuta Bali.

The planning and guidelines for telecommunication towers in Penang are coordinated by the Penang Development Corporation  Telecommunication (PDC Telco), a subsidiary of Penang Development Corporation.

“If the residents are concerned over the radiation levels from the telecommunication towers, they should forward their complains to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC),” says Abd. Malek b. Omar, the CEO of PDC Telco.

Meanwhile, according to Francis Joseph, another MPPP councilor, the tower should be built with the consent of the state assemblyperson.

“I was not informed regading the construction of any telecommunication towers in my area, and I am just as surprised that it has happened in my area without my knowledge,” said S Raveentharan, the PKR state assemblyman for Batu Uban.