iBurst tower battle comes to a head
Over the last few weeks the battle between a group of irate Craigavon residents and broadband operator iBurst has been gaining momentum, with residents claiming that a new iBurst tower is causing health issues while iBurst maintains that the radiation levels are far too low for any adverse effects.
iBurst CEO Jannie Van Zyl recently said that the signal level at the closest property to the Craigavon/Fourways Memorial iBurst mast is 0.0049 V/m, far lower than the International Council on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) guideline of 58 V/m.
iBurst however agreed to shut down the tower on the 16th of November and leave it off for two weeks to ascertain whether the health symptoms described by some of the residents dissipates during this period. “This is a much longer period than indicated by residents, including Tracey-Lee Dorny, to see a potential improvement in symptoms, including nausea, skin irritations, vomiting, headaches and sleep disorders,” said Van Zyl.
Tracey-Lee Dorny from the ‘Craigavon Task Force’ however said in an email that there is “different time relief [for different complainants] – days/ weeks /months and some had not yet had a chance to be away totally from the mast so the three days as mentioned below is a shade off mark.”
“Those with rashes expressed that it had taken 6 weeks for the rash to heal after moving out of their homes, medical input and sleeping away completely from the tower. Remaining skin texture was still to heal even after this time,” said Dorny in an email.
Mixed signals
Van Zyl said that to date he has not received any verified reports of health problems from Craigavon residents, and has not heard from any residents about health improvements since the tower was switched off two weeks ago.
“The iBurst transmitters were switched off on 16th of November with the intention to keep them off till at least the 30th of November, a period of 14 days. This would give the residents a much longer period than the ‘up to 3 days’ they stated they can see a change in symptoms (some, such as Tracey-Lee Dorny and others, claim near-immediate improvement in symptoms as soon as they leave the area),” said van Zyl.
“Repeated requests, subsequent to this event, to provide medical proof and confirm a follow-up meeting have been ignored. This is of grave concern as it seems the residents are in no way interested in resolving this issue, but want to keep on trying to sensationalize it in the press while avoiding all calls to resolve the matter or provide proof for their claims,” Van Zyl added.
In an email to iBurst today Dorny said that a meeting was requested for Wednesday, but that their attorneys did not receive a response from Van Zyl. In the letter it is further stated that a medical file is being finalized for the proposed meeting on Wednesday.
In an accompanying legal letter to iBurst it was further confirmed that RF tests have been done, but that complete tests could not be conducted. “Unfortunately you failed to revert back to our offices in respect of the request that permission be given for the professionals appointed to climb the tower and to check whether ALL transmitters had been switched off. Your failure/refusal in this regard has resulted therein that complete tests could not be carried out,” the legal letter stated.
Van Zyl is however not happy about the conduct of the Craigavon Task Force when it came to issues related to the tower. According to Van Zyl iBurst were, under false pretences, asked to be at the Craigavon tower at the same time and were not informed that the press would be there with TV cameras or that a mass gathering and/or protest was being staged.
“The intent was clearly to try and turn it into a media event. If we knew the press would be there we would’ve made sure someone with full knowledge of the situation would be available to answer any questions. As it turned out, a junior technician, who’s only instruction and intent was to disconnect some cables had to face the media and other and was not at all prepared or comfortable doing this,” said van Zyl. “The iBurst technician on site was harassed to the extent that he feared for his life and was traumatized enough to take off from work the next day.”
The way forward
Van Zyl said that at this point in time they “really don’t know” what the way forward will be. “The residents make claims in the press but refuse to provide any supporting evidence. They refuse to provide their names and addresses so we can follow up with them. They flatly refuse to engage with iBurst,” said Van Zyl.
“While iBurst is trying to engage with them, they seem only interested in staging media events. Clearly this cannot go on and a final call will be made Monday evening after the meeting. A letter was written to the Task Force requesting them to provide proof of heath issues on or before Monday morning, the 30th of November. If no such information is made available at that point in time, it will have to be assumed no such proof exists and the matter will be closed.”
MyBroadband tried to get comment from the Craigavon Task Force on the issue, but despite numerous attempts – both telephonically and through email – no feedback was received by the time of publication.
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