Mobile company eyes phone station on top of Brandberg

THE highest mountain in Namibia, the Brandberg, is to receive a base station for mobile communication in order to increase the range of cellphone contact for locals and tourists in the area.

The Brandberg is over 200 metres high and was declared a national monument in 1951. It is home to a vast variety of ancient rock art and is internationally famous for the rock painting of the ‘White Lady’.The National Heritage Council (NHC) received an application from Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC) last month to erect two containers and a ten-metre-high mast on top of the Brandberg next to an existing beacon and a mast of the Namibia Water Corporation.The National Heritage Council is now inviting comments from the public and interested parties about the envisaged base station.”This is a procedure according to Section 49 of the National Heritage Act of 2004,” said Erica Ndalikokule, scientific officer at the NHC.” “Apart from being a national monument, the Brandberg is also listed to become a World Heritage Site,” Ndalikokule said, “so we have to take a lot of care in managing our heritage and monuments and keep in mind the aesthetic beauty of the Brandberg.””We are happy that MTC approached us and filed the application.I appeal to any organisation wanting to start an undertaking at national monuments to come to the Council.”According to Ndalikokule, the public has the chance to send written submissions to the Council by January 29 to state if they think such a mast should be constructed on the Brandberg or if alternatives should be found.The Scientific Committee of the NHC will then hold a meeting and decide if it should grant permission to MTC or not.In its application MTC said that no cemented structures would be erected at the envisaged site and all materials for the base station would be transported by helicopter.According to Albertus Aochamub, General Manager for Corporate Services at MTC, the company was aware of the heritage status of the Brandberg.”We also informed the local communities in the area and they will give us feedback on their views if we can erect the 10-metre mast or not,” Aochamub told The Namibian yesterday.”We are thinking of blending in the mast with the natural environment, so it will not just be a steel structure.”Written submissions can be e-mailed to erica@nhc-nam.org or faxed to the NHC at (061) 246 872 before January 29.It is home to a vast variety of ancient rock art and is internationally famous for the rock painting of the ‘White Lady’.The National Heritage Council (NHC) received an application from Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC) last month to erect two containers and a ten-metre-high mast on top of the Brandberg next to an existing beacon and a mast of the Namibia Water Corporation.The National Heritage Council is now inviting comments from the public and interested parties about the envisaged base station.”This is a procedure according to Section 49 of the National Heritage Act of 2004,” said Erica Ndalikokule, scientific officer at the NHC.” “Apart from being a national monument, the Brandberg is also listed to become a World Heritage Site,” Ndalikokule said, “so we have to take a lot of care in managing our heritage and monuments and keep in mind the aesthetic beauty of the Brandberg.””We are happy that MTC approached us and filed the application.I appeal to any organisation wanting to start an undertaking at national monuments to come to the Council.”According to Ndalikokule, the public has the chance to send written submissions to the Council by January 29 to state if they think such a mast should be constructed on the Brandberg or if alternatives should be found.The Scientific Committee of the NHC will then hold a meeting and decide if it should grant permission to MTC or not.In its application MTC said that no cemented structures would be erected at the envisaged site and all materials for the base station would be transported by helicopter.According to Albertus Aochamub, General Manager for Corporate Services at MTC, the company was aware of the heritage status of the Brandberg.”We also informed the local communities in the area and they will give us feedback on their views if we can erect the 10-metre mast or not,” Aochamub told The Namibian yesterday.”We are thinking of blending in the mast with the natural environment, so it will not just be a steel structure.”Written submissions can be e-mailed to erica@nhc-nam.org or faxed to the NHC at (061) 246 872 before January 29.