‘No health risk from antenna’
By Martin Hellicar
LONDON and Nicosia yesterday agreed there was no health risk from an antenna which the British bases (SBA) want to add to their mast site at the Akrotiri salt lake, and which sparked a riot in July.
Only an independent review of the potential ecological impact of the massive new installation now stands in the way of the resumption of work on the controversial mast, set to go up in 2003.
Britain has always insisted the mast poses no threat to man or beast, but Akrotiri residents fear electro-magnetic emissions from the antenna will give them cancer and the government has expressed concerns about the impact on the salt lake’s abundant bird life.
The Green Party yesterday vowed to continue its battle against the new mast, but Britain would now appear to have won a debate that has grabbed headlines for weeks and sparked the worst anti-British violence in Cyprus since the days of the EOKA struggle.
“Experts from both governments have taken further measurements of the current electro-magnetic emissions at the site. It is clear from these measurements that emissions are and are expected to remain well within the EU parameters established as not posing a risk to health,” a joint statement issued by the Foreign Ministry and the British High Commission stated yesterday.
The fresh measurements of emissions from existing salt lake masts were taken early last month after rioting at the mast site and at the bases police station at Episkopi stalled groundwork for the new antenna. Over 50 people, mostly SBA police officers, were injured as Greek Cypriot anti-bases protesters ran riot on July 3 after DIKO deputy Marios Matsakis was arrested by bases police when he tried to break into the mast site to protest against the new aerial.
The riots prompted Nicosia and London to intensify talks aimed at arriving at a consensus on the possible environmental impact of the mast.
On August 1 and 2, Cypriot and French experts, tailed by British experts, measured emissions from existing aerials at the salt lake mast site in a fresh bid to estimate the possible health impact of the new mast.
“From the analysis of the measurements it transpired that the exposure of the public to electro-magnetic radiation from the antenna is at least 76 times smaller than the limit defined in the relevant EU directive,” the Communication Ministry announced yesterday. “The installation of the new antenna is not expected to result in significant increases in the levels of electro-magnetic radiation,” the ministry stated.
Ministry experts took measurements at the mast site itself, at the salt lake, at Akrotiri village, 1 km away, at Asomatos and at Ladies Mile beach. Only at the mast site did the Cypriot experts find significant levels of electro-magnetic radiation, the ministry stated. But, even under the existing masts, emissions levels were only 41 per cent of EU defined safety levels.
The two governments reiterated their commitment to a long-term study of the health impact of the masts, but this is not expected to hold up work on the new mast.
“We now know that the electro-magnetic emissions do not pose a threat, but there will be a health study for the additional satisfaction of the concerns of the residents of Akrotiri,” said Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides.
British High Commissioner Edward Cley said the conclusion of the antenna issue was “positive for all”.
The only thing that could now halt erection of the 100-metre high mast, which will form part of an Anglo-American worldwide surveillance network, would be evidence of a serious ecological impact.
The two governments yesterday announced they had agreed there would be a review of a 1997 impact assessment for the new mast carried out by British consultants for the British Defence Ministry and of a Greek study of the same issue presented by the Agriculture Ministry. The review is to be conducted by “a respected, independent, transparent and international panel of reputable experts with relevant experience”.
British High Commission spokesman Jonathan Allen said work on the new mast would resume soon unless the independent experts identified a significant ecological impact.
“The independent review of the impact assessments will be carried out as soon as possible and should not take long. If there are no significant new problems identified in there, then we will continue with our work as soon as possible,” Allen said.
“Our impact assessment has been proved right on the health aspect, and we believe it will be proved right on the environment aspect also,’ he added.
The main concern is that the mast, which will consist of massive metal towers with a wire mesh curtain slung between them, will act as a trap for the thousands of birds that use the salt lake as a wintering ground and migration staging post. The bases say no bird has ever been snared in existing masts.
London and Nicosia yesterday announced that a programme to monitor bird movements at the salt lake would be established.
The joint communiqué also promised the two governments would work together to set up a management plan for the unique wildlife site. Britain has also promised to extend the implementation of the Berne Convention on wildlife and natural habitats and the Ramsar wetlands protection convention to the Akrotiri base territory, so that the salt lake is covered.
In an announcement later yesterday, the Green Party, which has led protests against the planed mast, condemned the joint statement, saying the government had “betrayed” the salt lake. “The stance of the Cyprus government leaves all Cypriot people exposed to the arrogance of the British,” the party stated.
“The Green Party will continue the effort to block the British plans despite the ‘stab in the back’ that today’s joint announcement constitutes,” the statements added.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
