DOI: 10.36347/sajb.2021.v09i04.001

Pages: 103-110

The increase proliferation of GSM masts across the country has generated a lot of concern among the publics and brought to the fore, the need for assessment of the level of compliance to environmental standard regulations. The study therefore examined the level of compliance of GSM mast location to environmental standard regulations in Jalingo town, Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study include mapping out the location of GSM mast and assessing the level of compliance to environmental standard regulations in the study area. Geo-database was created using ArcGIS 10.1 software to show the spatial location and distribution of base stations on the map across the study area. The buffering of 5 and 10 meters was created around GSM Base Stations using buffer Tool of the Geo-processing Tool Box in ArcGIS. A total of 59 GSM masts were identified across the town. The result of the findings shows that 89.8% of the masts violated the regulatory setback and only 10.2% masts adhered to the regulatory standard. The environmental effects of GSM masts locations such as oil spillage into wells, mast falling, building cracks/collapse, were observed to be more severe in areas closer to the mast and decreases as the distance increases away from the masts, due to clustering of houses around the masts, which indicates a violation of the 5m and 10m NCC/ NESREA regulations. The study recommends that the minimum regulatory setback distance policy be harmonized by both the NCC and NESREA since noise hazards are still reported at some distance away. Also, the regulatory agencies should intensify strict enforcement of proscribed laws and regulations. The study further recommends that regulatory agencies (NCC/NESREA) should create public awareness and sensitization campaign on the risks involved with residing in close proximity to telecommunication masts.