Can Jaffna survive sans 5G?
We cannot just go and ‘dump’ a technology amidst people. They will then react as happened in Jaffna
The problem is not with the people of Jaffna. It is in the procedure adopted to introduce this technology or lacking proper system.
Every technology comes with a risk to human health and/or to the environment. Nothing is of ‘zero-risk’. Not only technology, but every action of ours involves a risk, from the time we get up in the morning until we go to sleep at night we encounter so many risks. However, we have learnt to manage them. As the first action in the morning, we do not roll out of our beds or get down head first – we know the risk, we have an assessment of it and we carefully get out of bed managing the risk involved. Do we not sleep at night because we may see a nightmare? Boy friend, girl friend, wife, husband etc. carry risks but we assess them and know how to manage them.
Technological advancement is an evolutionary phenomenon. It cannot be stopped but we can slow it down, guide it to our advantage, employ safety procedures and progress in life using the enormous advantages it offers. In introducing a technology, there are three important steps we have to take – identify the hazard, assess the risks, adopt procedures to manage the risk/s and the most important of all, communicate the details to the public. Did we do this with 5G in Jaffna? Or for that matter anywhere in the country? Did we educate the people in advance?
We cannot just go and ‘dump’ a technology amidst people. They will then react as happened in Jaffna. The public should be made aware of both the advantages and the risks involved and shown how the risks can and will be managed. This communication should be carried out by people who the public have trust in.
This 5th Generation Cellular technology uses super high frequency radio airwaves promising lightning fast speeds and the ability to power other new technologies.we need it, of course. In order to implement such a technology, it is necessary to deploy small cell towers closer to where people live, work and go to school. Won’t this be a legitimate concern to any living being? It has been a concern in many countries including Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and parts of USA, among others.
Risk assessment, management and risk communication is a must in introducing any modern technology to this country where due to its small size a hazard can travel across this country so quickly that we may not even know until it ‘hits’ us. It may be too late.
Let’s use technology safely. Safety First!