Telecom mast: Nasarawa queries EIA

Ibrahim Safiyanu of Oryx and Lynx Gifts LTD, consultants appointed by Nasarawa State Urban Development Board (NUDB), on outdoor advertising, told Daily Trust that their investigation showed that there are about 415 masts installed across the state, by four telecom operators, with Globacom having 127, MTN 124, Etisalat 78, and Airtel 66, while two firms […]

Ibrahim Safiyanu of Oryx and Lynx Gifts LTD, consultants appointed by Nasarawa State Urban Development Board (NUDB), on outdoor advertising, told Daily Trust that their investigation showed that there are about 415 masts installed across the state, by four telecom operators, with Globacom having 127, MTN 124, Etisalat 78, and Airtel 66, while two firms providing co-location services have about 20 in different parts of the state.
He said, last year, the firm conducted preliminary investigations into the EIA reports used by some of the telecom operators which is necessary for them to obtain permits to erect their masts, and “we discovered sharp practices when we went through the submissions made by the telecom operators.”
Continuing, he said: “They (telecom operators) are supposed to obtain written reports on EIA before they erect masts. But we discovered that some of the masts erected had this report doctored. In one of the cases, we found more than one mast. In fact, three of them, with the same report. It means they just duplicated an EIA report to cover for three masts. We found this case on masts erected all over the state.”
Safiyanu said the state government’s determination to end the suspected sharp practice by carrying out detailed investigation, entailed the NUDB field officers visiting every mast and carrying out the assessment, to find out if they tallied with what the telecom firms submitted to obtain their permits.
“If we discover anything wrong on site, if we discover anything short of conformity with international best practices and the regulations of Nasarawa State, we will stop their permits. We will pull down the masts in questions to prove our case against such sharp practices,” the consultant said.
He added: “Things were not done right in the state because authorities overlooked their functions. But this administration wants to streamline and put everything in line with the best international practice and standard. The state is not in  a rush; we will sit down and carefully go to various sites and look at the places where the masts are erected. There won’t be sacred cows. If they are not doing the right thing, trust me, we will bring down the masts in question. We don’t want a repeat of what happened in Lagos where many people were killed by collapsing telecom masts.”
Daily Trust also recalls that in the demand notice given last year, the government stated: “In view of this, the consultant has given twenty one (21) days ultimatum to all Service Providers to clear the backlog of their permits status otherwise, it will have no choice but to seal off such Base Telecommunication Stations and remove the billboards, gantry and any other related installations, until all payments and necessary approvals are obtained from the authority.”