Akrotiri villagers protest planned new British listening antennae

A group of residents of the village of Akrotiri on Tuesday staged a protest against the British government’s plans to erect as many as 68 new communications antennae near the adjacent salt lake, describing them as “antennae of death”. They complained that there has been “no information or consultation” offered to the residents regarding the new antennae, which they say are already under construction. In response, the British bases’ authorities said that they are “undertaking a project to modernise infrastructure” at the salt lake, “including the installation of new equipment and the enhancement of existing assets”. Regarding residents’ complaints that they were not consulted about the plans, the authorities said that they remain “committed to maintaining close and transparent communication with key stakeholders throughout the delivery of this project”. Related Articles • Burnham tells Christodoulides of ‘UK’s intention to get closer to EU’ • Cooper says UK takes Cyprus’ security seriously • British bases ‘lied to us’ about listening antennae, mayor says • British bases’ status ‘not up for negotiation’, minister says • Mayor highlights cancer risk of antennae at British Akrotiri base To this end, they said that “commencement of activity will be subject to a statutory environmental process and public consultation”, thus indicating that construction has not yet begun, and added that they are “awaiting necessary applications from the project sponsor” before beginning consultation. As such, they said that any work currently ongoing near the salt lake is “associated with routine maintenance” and is “not associated” with the plans to install new listening antennae. They also moved to counter accusations that the antennae have and will increase rates of cancer among local residents, saying that “a publicly available study concluded that ‘the dominant sources of radiofrequency fields were cell phone and national broadcast systems. There was no excess of cancer, birth defects or obstetric problems’”. RAF Akrotiri Bases authorities have seen ‘no evidence’ of dangerous radiation Additionally, they said that they have seen “no evidence to suggest that this position has changed”, and that they have informed the Republic of Cyprus that they would be “willing to co-sponsor a further independent study” on the matter. “Existing monitoring arrangements, including within the village of Akrotiri, continually provide data on the emissions from this equipment to the relevant Republic of Cyprus authorities,” they said, before adding that they have offered to install additional monitoring units near the salt lake. “The administration remains committed to ensuring that this project is delivered responsibly and in close cooperation with local partners and communities,” they said. The protest comes after Kourion mayor Pantelis Georgiou had in July accused the British bases’ administration of “lying” to his municipality over the placement of antennae in the Akrotiri base area. He said that his municipality had in the first instance been told that 20 new antennae would be installed, and that 18 would be removed, but that in June, “we were told that 68 would be installed in the first phase”, and that another 68 antennae will be installed in the second phase. Additionally, he said, the bases’ administration intends to construct two new buildings and expand another, before initiating a “third phase” of the installation of more communications antennae, this time numbering between 31 and 34. “You understand that this strongly militarises the Akrotiri area more broadly and essentially creates two serious issues. One is the issue of public health, because the number of towers which will be put there is so large that it is considered that the repercussions for public health will not be negligible,” he said. Asked how the placement of new antennae may impact public health, he said that “essentially, what we are trying to understand is the technology with which these things work”. File photo: Pantelis Georgiou Local mayor says readings were taken with old equipment “We requested data on radiation emissions and have decided that we will proceed to provide these to a researcher so that he can conduct a study on the effects on public health,” he said, before adding that “measurements are being made” in the area. He said that a radiation meter has been installed at the Akrotiri village council building, and that his municipality has requested that other meters also be installed “at the edge of the borough”, near where the antennae are currently located, north of the village itself. Asked whether independent readings have been taken, he said that the only data he has seen so far has been given by the Republic of Cyprus’ electromagnetic service, “which has informed us that so far, from the existing antennae, the data shows that it is within the limits specified by the law”. However, he said that the readings had been taken with old equipment, and that as such, “we have requested the installation of new machines”. Additionally, he said that the legal radiation limit in Cyprus is “very high” in relation to the level of radiation which “really causes problems”, and that as such, he expects for amendments to be made to bring that limit down. “We asked them to give us examples from other countries so that we can pressure our parliament to move forward,” he said, before acknowledging that these limits would have to be accepted and adopted by the British bases’ authorities. File photo: A British Tornado taxis on the runway at RAF Akrotiri, in Cyprus Cypriot government plans to renegotiate bases’ status Anxiety over the placement of the antennae comes with the Cypriot government having already stated its intention to renegotiate the status of the British bases after the Akrotiri airbase was hit by an Iranian-made drone on March 2. On this front, President Nikos Christodoulides had promised upon his arrival a European Council summit in March that “we are going to have an open and frank discussion with the British government” over the future of the bases. That summit then ended with the European Council declaring that it stands ready to assist” the Cypriot government in discussions regarding the bases’ future and stating that it “acknowledges the intention of Cyprus to initiate a discussion with the UK” on the matter.