Allow me to highlight the building of a mobile phone tower at a densely populated residential area in Jerantut, Pahang. The 20-storey high tower has been built in the middle of a residential area with at least 200 families living within a 300m radius from the tower.

There are more than a thousand families living within one kilometre from the tower. We are told that the tower is to facilitate the sending of mobile phone signals to Taman Negara.

Our families now face increased health risks including leukemia, brain cancer and death, especially among the children. Our concern is based on research of over 40 studies around the world.

A study done in the US concluded that the negative effects of transmission towers in San Francisco peaked at 1.73km from the tower. This means that children living within and beyond the 1.73km region are at increased risk of getting various fatal diseases.

The phone company had worked through the night for two week to prepare the foundation so that the tower could be erected on April 29. Such efficiency is extremely unusual in a sleepy and unsuspecting town like Jerantut.

Indeed, we locals were not consulted at all prior to the building of this tower and have since angrily protested. However, the issue is further complicated by the fact that some of the people benefitting from the tower are politically and commercially influential.

The building of the tower in such a populated area defies common sense because there are many uninhabited hills for such towers. This monstrous tower has instead been built next to some new houses and an established children playground.

I cannot help but suspect that either gross incompetence or corruption must have taken place in the approval of the tower's construction.