A LACK of government studies into the amount of radiation emitted by the proposed Hellas Sat satellite station and an organised protest on part of concerned residents that thwarted construction plans for the station has prompted Hellas Sat to ask the government to exempt it from its obligation to build a satellite station on the island, according to Phileleftheros.
The company decided it would relocate construction of its satellite station from Sia to Kakoratzia after Sia residents staged protests and blockaded Hellas Sat workers with tractors and farm vehicles, demanding that the company relocate its satellite station away from inhabited areas because they feared it would emit dangerous electromagnetic radiation.
But the decision to relocate construction of the station to Kakoratzia has brought with it new concerns, since the government, which had suggested the new location, has not conducted any studies as to the suitability of the site or as to the dangers that the station would pose to the surrounding inhabitants.
According to a document from the Ministry of Communications and Works addressed to Hellas Sat, “the finding of a space for the construction of a satellite station is exclusively the responsibility of your company, considering that only you know about the technical characteristics of your equipment, as well as about obtaining the necessary permits and licences according to Cypriot law.”
“Your estimation,” the document continued, “that the Ministry has produced all the necessary studies and has taken all the necessary measures to demonstrate the suitability of the space regarding electromagnetic fields is entirely wrong.”
On Monday, members of the Works Ministry, Hellas Sat, the Union of Municipalities Cyprus, and the mukhtars of Kornos and Kofinou discussed the proposal to relocate the satellite station to Kakoratzia. During the meeting, a Hellas Sat representative made an official request that the government exempt the company from having to construct a satellite station in Cyprus.
Interior Minister Permanent Secretary Lazaros Savvides said that “if at the end of the day Hellas Sat cannot fulfil its agreement with the Ministry of Communications and Works, then it will have to ask to be freed from its obligation and continue with the construction of the station in a neighbouring country.”
According to Phileleftheros, Hellas Sat is currently considering building the station in Paris, Luxembourg, Cario, Tel Aviv or Italy.
The community of Kornos said that it had asked the Health Ministry to prepare a study regarding the increasing number of cases of leukaemia and other types of cancer in the community, which lies near a CyTA antenna. They are asking that there be no other construction of an antenna until the study is completed.
