KUCHING : SACOFA Sdn Bhd held a talk on telecommunications towers in order to tackle a growing trend of public misconceptions around telco towers and the industry at MBKS auditorium here yesterday.
The talk held in collaboration with the Malaysian Nuclear Agency,included addresses by Cik Roha Tukimin of the Malaysian Nuclear Agency and Mr Chee Lay Heng of CISSPR Sdn Bhd (a leading electromagnetic compatibility electromagnetic field (EMF) and Radio Frequency (RF) services and solutions provider in Malaysia)with closing remarks by the Mayor of Kuching South City Council, Dato James Chan Khay Syn.
The session’s main focus was on Radio Frequency (RF) and Electromagnetic Field(EMF) public safety, and to highlight the latest round of associated testing conducted throughout Sarawak, proving further that telco towers pose no threat to public health and safety through alleged harmful emissions and that emission levels comply with all State, national and international regulations and emission standards.
Testing was conducted by the Malaysian Nuclear Agency between November 2016 and August 2017 at 11 rural and urban sites (with four more sites scheduled in August) revealing that emissions in the immediate vicinity of telco tower sites varied from as little as 0.01% to 0.26% of the maximum exposure limit levels set by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
In addition to the test findings, the speakers tackled some of the most prominent issues surrounding telco tower emissions, which included: an overview of wireless technologies; mobile telecommunications and how antennas and propagation (transmissions) work; human exposure, biological effects, non-ionizing radiation and public health concerns; and what the relevant authorities are doing in terms of testing, regulations and compliance to protect the public. The talks were followedby an open-floorquestions and answers session.
Of the public engagement sessions series, Zaid Zaini, Managing Director of SACOFA, said: “Common misconceptions have emanated from diverse groups, ranging from the media, NGOs sections of the general public and even elected officials. These talks provide an excellent opportunity for the experts to lay out the facts in robust terms, backed up by hard evidence, to ensure public concerns are met and misconceptions – which are sometimes motivatedwith questionable intentions – are tackled head on with research and testing.”
The most recent round of testing – which includessites in Bintulu and Sarikei – shows that SACOFA’s towers are performing, on average, 790 times better than the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) standards, which are set by the World Health Organisation and have been adopted as the mandatory standard set by the Ministry of Health Malaysia.
Zaid said “Telco towers emit RF radiation, which is considered non-ionizing and operates at extremely low frequencies and is harmless to humans at the minimal levels at which SACOFA towers are built. To put that into context, that is the same kind of absolutely harmless emission given off by radios, lamps and televisions.”
SACOFA towers comply with the ‘setback’ levels set by the State Planning Authority, and must be: 15 metres away from residential buildings, 15 metres away from institutional, government, schools or religious buildings, 10 metres away from commercial buildings, 7.5 metres away from industrial buildings and 15 metres away from recreational areas and sports complexes.
Of the towers built, Zaid added: “SACOFA prides itself in not just adhering to industry standards but exceeding them, placing the utmost priority on the safety of public and property in the areas we operate. To ensure this, we have adopted the strictest regulations and certification standards – the British Standard Code of Practices. All SACOFA towers strictly conform to this rigorous globally-recognised quality and safety benchmarking.”
