In the last five months, all 60 pine trees in Tracey-Lee Dorny's garden, and those in her neighbours' gardens, have been burnt and blackened. "I first noticed these big scorch marks on my pines, and then some of the eucalyptus and the fir trees around Fourways," says Dorny, chairman of the Electromagnetic Research Foundation of SA, speaking from her Craigavon home.
Dorny suspects the phenomenon is related to MTN's testing of its new technology in her area, which she believes corresponds with reports of illnesses in Fourways, Dainfern, Sunninghill and further afield. "It's like very focused beams are coming through here and hitting some of the trees and plants. The signals are fairly high-powered and they're transmitting long distances... The resin just bursts open," she says, adding that the trees are an indicator of what is to come. "We're receiving more reports of headaches, blurry vision, tinnitus and nausea and problems with breathing and hair loss in the area. Children are experiencing severe shooting pains in their muscles and joints."
4G is the fourth generation of wireless communication standards, converging computers and cellphones wirelessly in an era of ultra-fast broadband internet access. Last year Dorny won her battle against iBurst when it removed a wi-fi mast it had erected 30m from her bedroom window, which had caused her family to fall ill. She has since been diagnosed as electrosensitive, becoming physically ill when exposed to electromagnetic radiation. Last week Amanda Britz of the Department of Environmental Affairs wrote that the Department of Health was "satisfied that, based on the current research and guidelines, which are endorsed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the health of the general public is not being compromised (by) their exposure to the microwave emissions of cellular base stations," IOL says.
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