Residents of Olive Lodge Road Prepared to Protest Digicel Cell Tower Location Near Homes

Residents of Olive Lodge Road are prepared to protest if the Digicel cell tower in their community is not removed.

They stood firm in their position yesterday as the movement generated more support, including backing from Opposition Leader Ralph Thorne who visited the Holders Hill, St James district yesterday evening.

Dr Jennifer Obidiah-Alleyne, the group’s spokesperson, made their intention clear as they pointed out how close the cell tower was located to homes in the closely-knit area.

“Their rules state it’s supposed to be at least 65 feet away from any residence. The current tower is 40 feet. It was 15 feet before but they moved it a little bit closer to another resident, but it was still only 40 feet away from Sister Gloria’s [Haynes] house.

‘Elderly and the ill’

“There are elderly people and people with illnesses living around that cell tower and we have gotten nothing but a correspondence from the Telecommunications Unit saying ‘we received your correspondence’,” Obidiah-Alleyne said.

She said they were prepared to write the Barbados Police Service to seek official permission to protest.

“Our next step is to march in front of their offices. Since the [Ministry of Industry, Innovation, Science and Technology – MIST] office has some environmental issues, we can’t go to them at the [Baobab] Towers.

“We are going to visit the Prime Minister because she is in office. We are going to carry placards and we are going to let her know we want this tower gone. We want them to see that they are doing harm to our neighbourhood and we are not standing for it. We will write a letter to the Commissioner [of Police] and whatever we have to do we are going to do because we are not stopping until that tower is moved,” she said.