Greens say antenna evidence withheld

GREEN PARTY deputy George Perdikis yesterday accused the government of withholding evidence and misleading the House of Representatives on the impact the new British PLUTO antenna would have on public health at Akrotiri.

Speaking at a news conference in Limassol, Perdikis said the House Environment Committee repeatedly asked to be given access to all the relative documents on the issue, something which the government failed to do.

Perdikis said a letter from the British Sovereign Bases Administration sent to the Ministry of Communications and Works in June 2001, which included records of measurements of electromagnetic radiation in the area of the antenna, was never made public.

He claimed the electromagnetic radiation readings taken at the site of the antenna were higher than those presented after joint research by the government and the British a few months later.
“That document was kept a secret and their claims that it was presented to the House Environment Committee are not true,” Perdikis said.

He said the most critical issue in the operation of the new antenna was to control the electrical power, and he asked the government to take all necessary measures to ensure that the electricity supplied to the antenna was under their control.

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