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Sunday October 5, 2008 MYT 7:35:19 PM

Penang to continue study on health effects of WiFi

By CHRISTINA CHIN


GEORGE TOWN: The Penang government will widen its consultations with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the public on possible health risks posed by free Internet wireless connections in the state.

A public forum to discuss the issue will be held after the Hari Raya festive period, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said in a press release on Sunday.

He made the commitment in response to NGO objections to the wireless broadband project, which is aimed at providing free WiFi connection to the entire state within 24 months.

“I have instructed our tech-savvy Member of Parliament Jeff Ooi to organise the forum.

“For public education, we will make available various research papers on radio frequency (RF) radiation that has been wrongly linked to WiFi and WiMAX,” he said, adding that Ooi was Malaysia’s first blogger elected into Parliament and author of a book on the knowledge-based economy.

“We are receptive to public requests for continued consultative and educational sessions with the government pertaining to the implementation of the free Wireless@PENANG project. Public consultation is a continuing process even after a project is announced.

“The state government is ready to cancel and abandon the project if there is scientific proof to show that the health of the people will be adversely affected by the wireless network,” he said.

Lim also said that a World Health Organisation report concluded that the amount of non-ionizing radiation absorbed by a person’s body from a WiFi station is less than one-fifth that received from FM radio and television sets.

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