Radiation emissions from Sacofa towers absolutely harmless, assures MD

KUCHING: Sacofa Sdn Bhd ( Sacofa), the driving agency behind Sarawak’s state- oftheart telecommunications and information technologies, welcomed the latest round of radiation emissions testing by Malaysian Nuclear Agency (ANM) in Piasau, Miri yesterday.

Its managing director Zaid Zaini said the most recent round of testing in Taman Harmoni, Sibu showed that Sacofa’s towers were performing 790 times better than the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection ( ICNIRP) standards set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and adopted as the mandatory standard set by the Ministry of Health.

“To put that into context, that is the same kind of absolutely harmless emission given off by radios, lamps and televisions.

“When the results of the Piasau testing is established, it will be proven that our towers are performing at levels far below than the minimum international and Malaysian standards,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Zaid pointed out that as a society that’s becoming more technologically advanced, it was natural that questions be asked on whether these appliances were harmful.

“We understand why the public raise important questions about the health and safety of the areas in which they live, work and play. There’s a lot of confusion out there about radiation emissions and we at Sacofa feel that it is our job, as the state’s ICT enabler, to provide the public the facts transparently so they can feel proud of the state’s efforts.

“While we already work with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and ANM to conduct regular site testing as per international guidelines, we understand that the public want more information, so we will be increasing the number of tests per year and publish the results of those tests,” he said.

According to him, one such area of misunderstanding was the type of radiation emissions given off by telco towers.

“Telco towers emit RF (radiofrequency) radiation, which is considered non-ionising, operates at extremely low frequencies and is harmless to humans at the minimal levels at which Sacofa towers are built,” he explained.

The next series of testing will be on sites in Pasir Panas, Sri Aman.

“Only through a spirit of openness, col laboration and transparency, can we address the public’s concerns and once and for all, dispel the myths about telco tower radiation.

“We in the industry know it’s harmless and we should do our best to give the public peace of mind by giving them the facts,” he said.