KUALA TERENGGANU: Flying drones in the vicinity of base stations is prohibited, and anyone found doing so will be subject to legal action, says Communications and Multimedia Deputy Minister, Datuk Jailani Johari.
He said the use of drones was subject to the approval of licences issued by the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) and any party wishing to fly a drone should ensure it operated on DCA-approved radio frequency.
“People need to get approval for the frequency on which to fly their drones from the DCA, because flying drones without the approval of the DCA (including near base stations) was an offence, and those found to be involved will be subject to legal action,” he added.
Jailani was commenting on the threat posed by the use of drones in high-risk areas, including base stations nationwide.
He was speaking to reporters after a Telekom Malaysia (TM) ‘sahur’ (pre-dawn meal) programme at the TM transmitter station in Bukit Besar near here last night. Also present was Terengganu TM general manager Hamidun Ismail.
Meanwhile in a related development, Jailani urged telecommunication companies to declare their base stations as restricted areas as it was a high risk to the public.
He said, apart from avoiding irresponsible parties from trespassing the base stations, it would also prevent any accident or untoward incident.
“In the case of our transmission stations (TV and radio), they have all been declared restricted areas and are controlled by security round-the-clock...however, there are some telecommunication base stations (newly-built) which have not been declared safety zones.
“I believe it should be done, because there are towers which are built as high as 450 metres, and it can harm any aircraft at night,” he said.
In the meantime, Jailani also reminded telecommunication companies and individuals against building ‘illegal’ base stations as it was an offence. Those found involved in its construction can face legal action.
“It cannot be simply built (anywhere) because to construct a telecommunication tower, a licence must be obtained from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
“So, if we detect a tower which was built without approval and licence from the MCMC, we will not hesitate to demolish the tower, because there have been such cases previously,” he said.
In the ‘sahur’ programme, a total of 20 TM staff working on the night shift were given food packs comprising Arab rice, dates and a bottle of mineral water. -- Bernama