Can't Enforce Old Laws? OK, Create New Ones! The Trinidad and Tobago Town And Country Planning Division

Sometimes people make me laugh. Honestly. Here's a Public Advisory on Cell Tower Approvals which is pretty straightforward - in theory.

Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT) is apparently to try to do something here - I got wind of it right before Christmas 2005 - and I said then to someone in TATT what I'll say again. But before I get into it, I can honestly say this:

I can throw a stone from where I am and not hit a person that cares about health risks regarding cell phone towers. I'm serious. I don't know where these 'concerned citizens' are, but I have a hunch that they work for a cell phone company which is afraid of finally getting competition. I can see a cell phone tower from where I'm sitting right now. Really. So the premise to all of this seems to be a bit shakey to me. Most people are concerned about whether they can get a cell phone signal when they need it. And then there are other issues that come to mind. Small things like crime.

So - the grand master plan of TATT for this problem that allegedly someone is worried about is: get the Town and Country Planning Division of the Ministry of Planning and Development to do what they were supposed to be doing anyway. But Town And Country Planning doesn't even rate an entry as a division on the Ministry's website. Oh, wait - here it is, it was just not clearly labeled. And what does it do?

...The Urban and Regional Planning Division is charged with the responsibility for administering the Town and Country Planning Act, Ch. 35:01 of the laws of Trinidad and Tobago, on behalf of the Minister responsible for town and country planning. The functions of the Division derive from the mandate of the Minister, under the provisions of the Act, to secure consistency and continuity in the framing and execution of a comprehensive policy with respect to the use and development of all land in Trinidad and Tobago...

OK, nothing on the Act here, but I have a copy of it somewhere. My father and I actually got a plan approved through them. It boils down to whether the person on the other end of the table likes you. But why did we bother? The country is full of land development that hasn't been approved and that was built after the inception of Town and Country. Or Urban and Regional Planning Division. Whatever you want to call it. So, the approval process is strained (which is a nice way of putting it).

Last year, a lady who bought land from my late father to build a house submitted plans for approval. They refused on the basis that the residence was for two families, and they did not allow that in that area. OK. Throw a stone from her property and I guarantee you'll hit at least 5 houses with a ricochet that ain't following the Plan. So - if you want to do something, many people just do it because Town and Country approval doesn't get enforced on properties. There are people in the same area who got electrical connections without even a house inspection for $3,000 TT by placing that magical amount in the right hands. Without Town And Country approval. Without any approval.

So now TATT says that they are going to get Town and Country to do their jobs when it comes to cell phone towers, which is more than amusing to me. Why? Because these towers are not short, and kind of stick out like sore thumbs. Because word has it that many government offices are in buildings that aren't approved. Because the majority of the people outside of cities just build houses and other things and not worry about Town and Country. Why?

What are they going to do, destroy their house? Aha. But cell phone towers are OK... because someone profits. Right. Brilliant.

I laughed in Hi-Lo when I heard it, and I'm laughing now.

And as far as the FCC part:

... The Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT), the body responsible for licensing all radio-transmitting equipment used in Trinidad and Tobago has adopted the standards on safe RF emission levels established by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States of America. TATT has mandated that all radio-transmitting equipment, including those controlled by mobile telephone companies in Trinidad and Tobago, be operated within limits imposed by these standards.

The FCC’s maximum permissible exposure (MPE) limits to which people may be exposed, provide a substantial margin of safety and are well below levels generally accepted as having the potential to cause adverse health effects...

- Duh. We saw that one coming.

So here's my question for TATT. What's the plan for MPE limit testing? ;-) Someone driving around with an instrument when they feel like it? That's something worth letting the public know. ;-)

If Town and Country starts enforcing this with cell phone towers, then they better get in gear for the other stuff that they are supposed to be doing. Laws and Acts mean nothing without enforcement, and this particular public advisory reeks of business interests instead of health interests.