The mounting of telecommunications masts and towers in the country has been banned until further notice. The directive communicating the ban is contained in a letter dated January 12, 2010 from the Minister of Environment Science and Technology (MEST) to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It also announced the establishment of an inter-sectoral committee comprising personnel from the EPA, the National Communications Authority (NCA), the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) and National Security to produce guidelines that would bring some order in the way communication towers are being erected all over the country. According to the EPA, about 50 per cent of all communications masts in the country were erected by service providers who did not obtain the required permit. In recent times, the rampant installation of telecommunication masts throughout the county has raised concern over public health and safety. And the rush for land for that purpose has stirred some land disputes, sometimes sparking public protests and conflicts. Last week, a mass protest was staged in Accra when a telecommunications mast erected by some of the service providers collapsed at Ashale-Botwe, killing one person and injuring another. A number of similar occurrences had been followed by petitions against the unregulated mounting of masts in residential areas, which were sent to the Ministry, the EPA and NCA but the letter gave the assurance that “the exercise will signal an end of the avalanche of petitions received on daily basis". Source: Daily Graphic/Ghana