[UPDATED] Residents irate over fitting of telco towers on building without consent

GEORGE TOWN – Residents at Boundary Road in Air Itam here are vexed after three telco towers were erected on their building without permission, two years after one was taken down.

Pharmaceutical distributor Teng Beng Lee, who owns two units in the building where the telco tower is placed, told The Vibes that he came to work one day last month and saw that the towers had already been erected.

“They (the authorities) took a tower down before. And when it was being taken down the last time, two years ago, they scratched the floor of my unit.

“Now I am sitting less than 30m from the antennae. Why wasn’t I consulted when it was put up?”

“What if one of us gets cancer due to the radiation?” he said.

Resident Wilson Murthy, 55, worked alongside Teng to get signatures from other residents to pressure the authorities to take the telco towers down.

“We approached the Penang City Council’s Development Planning Department but there seems to be some confusion as some of them are saying that there is no need to obtain the neighbours’ consent to put up the towers and there are others who say it is needed.

“The question is why is there no standard policy whereby a structure such as this needs to have residential consent?” he said. 

They have contacted the office of Penang executive councillor for Infrastructure and Transport Zairil Khir Johari to get clarification on that matter.

They said the office responded that there was approval for the telco towers, but no letter of approval was produced as proof to the residents.

When contacted by The Vibes, Zairil said that telco towers are allowed to be constructed with approval from local authorities.

“For anyone who wishes to object, we have an objection process.

“We receive more complaints about poor network coverage compared to complaints about telco towers.

“Telco structures are part of modern life and with 5G coming there will be even more,” he said. – The Vibes, May 21, 2022

Editor's note: This story has been revised for clarity.