A GROUP of concerned adults and children yesterday joined forces outside their apartment building in Nicosia to demonstrate over a mobile telephone mast that they believe is making them sick.
The group, headed by Andreas Andronikou, a tenant in the building whose roof is hosting the antenna, has blamed the antenna’s excessive electromagnetic emissions for causing cancer to two residents and for lesser symptoms such as vomiting, headaches, dizziness and buzzing in their ears.
But CyTA general manager Nicos Timotheou said measurements taken from the antenna’s emissions were well below European Union recommended levels and pointed out that global studies had found electromagnetic emissions to be harmless to health.
Nevertheless, residents, as well as children from the nearby primary school, gathered on Minos Street, just off 80 Tseri Avenue, armed with placards and over 100 different signatures from concerned residents.
The placards read: “Don’t condemn our children to death. Antenna=death. You’re cutting our lives short with antennas.”
The small group was clearly frightened about the effects of the antenna on their health.
One man blamed a resident’s leukaemia on the emissions, and Andronikou said his legs had suffered swelling and a build-up of fluid since the antenna had been placed in the area two years ago.
Andronikou said: “CyTA is only concerned about making money; instead it’s taking our blood, living off our health.”
The demonstration was not without political support, as Green party leader George Perdikis and AKEL deputy Stella Mishaouli also condemned the antenna and spoke of a broader problem.
Mishaouli told the Cyprus Mail: “There are reports that there are 500 antennas all over Cyprus that emit more electromagnetic energy than they are supposed to and a lot of them are in heavily built-up areas. The closer the antennas are together, the more magnetic energy there is.”
She added: “Some of the (health) symptoms might be mild, but should we wait for them to develop into cancer and leukaemia before we do anything? It is unacceptable to visit European countries and see that they have modern, smaller antennas that emit less electromagnetic energy, when we as an EU country have not changed.”
According to Perdikis, numerous measurements in Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca and Paphos had revealed electromagnetic emissions were very high, despite being within EU limits. He also said the emissions of the specific antenna on Minos Street were much higher compared to other antennas.
“A lot of EU countries have laws with much stricter limits than those set by EU recommendations,” he said. In a statement issued by the Green party, Perdikis blamed private and semi-government “interests” for carrying more weight than public health.
He also condemned the government for its delay in amending a law, which would oblige companies to secure planning permission before setting up mobile telephone antennas.
But Timotheou said no study had proved emissions were hazardous to health. He also said the emission measurements taken from the specific antenna from four different distances were between 18-85 per cent lower than EU recommended limits.
The Communication Ministry also yesterday confirmed these measurements.
Speaking to reporters from his office, Timotheou questioned how unfounded claims could be made since studies had disproved theories that electromagnetic fields caused health anomalies. He also questioned what methods the Green Party had used to take measurements of emissions, since it was a highly technical procedure that involved special equipment, and said he had never seen the results of these studies.
“Unfortunately, this demonstration is going to cause a lot of unnecessary anxiety,” he said.
Nonetheless, Timotheou said that if residents were in fact for some reason becoming sicker than was the norm, it was the Ministry’s responsibility to carry out a study to get to the bottom of the problem.
Meanwhile CyTA representative Sophia Yiannakou added that fears over the proximity of antennas in residential areas were unfounded.
“In towns we use weaker stations that don’t cover as wide an area, meaning the electromagnetic waves they emit are weaker. We need more of them because there are more people and they use more phones,” she explained.
She added that in light of growing public concern, CyTA was next Friday launching an awareness campaign about antennas and their emissions. This campaign among other things would include expert speakers from Greece, she said.
