Bermuda Advocates For Safe Technology is encouraging the community to submit their feedback to the Regulatory Authority (RA) at www.ra.bm by the deadline today at 11:59 pm. We are deeply concerned about the potential health and environmental implications associated with 5G being deployed on our island, and in an effort to assist, have shared our responses to the consultation questions with this release. These responses have also been published on our website www.bast.bm.
We have reiterated our request to the RA for an extension of the public consultation. Many events have been postponed as a result of COVID-19, and extending the consultation, into the second quarter of 2021, will provide ample time for the general public to respond to the consultation and for the RA to help the public better understand the questions being asked.
We also expressed to the RA that we have serious concerns regarding the makeup of the Advisory Panel, as highlighted in our previous press release. The Bermuda public deserves a truly independent panel and fair process, and our concern is that the Advisory Panel is heavily weighted with industry personnel. The panel also lacks health, environmental, planning, and community stakeholder representation. Also, Dr. Carika Weldon, the only panelist with health expertise, must surely be otherwise occupied at this time, leading the Bermuda COVID-19 testing facilities and serving Bermuda in its pandemic response, particularly with the recent escalation of cases.
In our view, because there are so many concerns with 5G both locally and internationally, we should take the time required to carefully determine if and how we deploy 5G technology in Bermuda. Our suggestion is that the RA abide by the Precautionary Principle, which is often used by policy makers in situations where there is the possibility of harm from making a certain decision (e.g. taking a particular course of action) and conclusive evidence is not yet available. For example, a government may decide to limit or restrict the widespread release of a medicine or new technology until it has been thoroughly tested. The principle acknowledges that while the progress of science and technology has often brought great benefit to humanity, it has also
contributed to the creation of new threats and risks. It implies that there is a social responsibility to protect the public from exposure to such harm, when scientific investigation has found a plausible risk. These protections should be relaxed only if further scientific findings emerge that provide sound evidence that no harm will result.
In closing we encourage as many submissions to the RA as possible, and would like to make everyone mindful of the fact that a second public consultation will be announced by the RA, during the holiday season, once the Advisory Panel has reviewed the first round of submissions and given the RA their final recommendations.
For more information and peer-reviewed science visit www.bast.bm or @bermudasafetechnology on Facebook.
For interviews or to get involved, please call 537.5545 or email: bastinbermuda@gmail.com
