Government willing to discuss 5G technology in parliament's health committee

Earlier on Friday, the Democratic Party called for the setting up of a special committee within the Environment and Resources Authority as well as a discussion within parliament's health committee 

The government has said it is willing to discuss potential health hazards associated with 5G technology in parliament's health committee
The government has said it is willing to discuss potential health hazards associated with 5G technology in parliament's health committee

The Parliamentary Secretary for Digital Innovation Silvio Schembri has welcomed a request by the Democratic Party for parliament’s health committee to discuss potential health risks associated with the use of 5G technology.

Earlier today, the Democratic Party called for a special committee to be set up within the Environment and Resources Authority to ensure that there are “no adverse effects on public and environmental health” as a result of the technology. The party also called for the subject to be discussed in parliament’s health committee.  

Concerns about potential health risks associated with the technology have been raised in recent weeks, with the Belgian capital Brussels halting all testing last week due to a breach of the Belgian radiation standard of 95 megawatts per sq.m.

Asked whether it would be investigating the technology, the Malta Communications Authority told MaltaToday it would only do so if it received direction from the Environmental Health Authority.

It said that service providers and communication networks in Malta were subject to a number of conditions, which include the maintenance of electromagnetic radiation levels from transmissions, in line with standards established by the International Commission for Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The issue was also raised by Partit Demokratiku leader Godfrey Farrugia in Parliament some weeks ago.

Responding to the PD’s request, the parliamentary secretary said that “no sort of license was issued by Malta Communications Authority (MCA) to any company with regard to the transmission of mobile services of experimental or commercial matters related to 5G”.

"On matters concerning electromagnetic radiation of a non-ionising nature, the Secretariat would like to assert that the Malta Communications Authority checks the levels of electromagnetic radiation from radio communications sources on a regular basis to make sure that these are in conformity with the standards and criteria as established by the International Commission for Non-Ionising Radiation, which standards are recognised by several international institutions such as the World Health Organization and the EU’s Scientific Committee," the secretariat said.

It added that to date, the European Commission had repeatedly stated that it has not found any scientific justification to revise the limits set by Council Recommendation 1999/519/EC.

Moreover, the secretariat stressed that cybersecurity remained at the top of the government’s agenda and that Malta, together with other EU member states, was actively discussing the implementation aspects concerning the Commission Recommendation on the cybersecuiry of 5G networks published on the 26 March.

Parliamentary secretary Silvio Schembri insisted that the "health and digital security of Maltese citizens is of utmost priority and that they will not be bartered for profits".