A community action group fighting against radiation emissions is to engage a foreign expert to visit the Island to monitor discharge from transmission towers.

Community Against Radiation Emissions (CARE) said it has decided to employ the expert to come to Bermuda from time to time because it feels Government has not been responsive enough.

The news of the new CARE initiative comes after the death of former Police officer John Instone, one of a number of constables who lived at the barracks in Prospect to die of cancer.

The group said Government had commissioned a report to be prepared by Bernie Choquette in 1999, but said it had not repeated the exercise bi-annually, as it originally had said it would do.

And the group claimed Government had carried out hardly any of the recommendations made by Mr. Choquette.

Terri Pearman-Castle, of CARE, said: "We were unhappy in any event with the standards used by Mr. Choquette, being those set by the American Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

"Recent indications, particularly coming from the UK, suggest that the precautionary principle should be applied since there is scientific evidence indicating that there may be biological effects occurring at exposures below the previously accepted guidelines.'' But she said if the standards set by the American FCC were said to be adequate, Government dropped the ball.

She added: "The recommendations made by Mr. Choquette should have been carried out many months ago and we are not optimistic that the Government will attend to these items in the near future.

"It seems to us that, if we want this job to be done, we will have to do it ourselves.'' CARE intends to make it an Island-wide initiative and would like to arrange readings to be taken at a large number of locations around Bermuda.

However, Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb last night accused the group of making allegations without bothering to find out the truth.

She said Government had never promised to carry out studies bi-annually, but what it had done in response to the report last year was set up two different groups.

And she said CARE was represented on both of the organisations, one of which is looking at how towers can be shared by users across the Island, resulting in some even being taken down and removed.

She said: "I am very surprised that CARE has gone to the press when they are represented on the advisory group.

"The Government is certainly not sitting back and doing nothing and if the group bothered to pick up the phone we would have told them.

"Maybe they haven't been informed by the representative that has been to the meetings.

"If they want to bring down an expert, we are very happy. I think it's great that the community is taking an active role.'' And Ms. Pearman-Castle also said CARE was concerned about the transition by CellularOne/BDC to a digital service.

She added: "Renee Webb, Minister of Telecommunications, had given us a clear indication that no new services would be transmitted from the existing towers without a proper consultative process in which the community would have a voice.

"Yet, here we find that the signals to which we are to be exposed will become digital ones.'' And the group is also calling for a more aggressive stance against Fairmont Princess Hotels, which lost a fight to terminate its lease for a cell tower on its land in Warwick.

Puisne Judge Philip Storr ruled in favour of Bermuda Digital Communications, which erected the tower on land at Faraway, claiming the company had done nothing wrong and could remain.

The hotel also houses some of its staff on the Faraway site.

CARE claims the hotel should have appealed the judges decision, but decided against it.

The Fairmont, owners of the hotel, said it had come to the conclusion that there was very little else they could do, and that there seemed to be no conclusive proof that any real danger existed to the residents at Faraway.

And the owners said they were sorry they could not bring the matter to a more successful conclusion and added: "Please be assured, we will continue to monitor any new information which is relevant to the subject throughout the term of our lease with Bermuda Digital and explore whatever contractual opportunities we may have to alleviate and permanently resolve this issue.'' Renee Webb