LOOKS ARE deceiving. Nope, this is not a majestic palm tree dwarfing nearby buildings in St. Andrew. It's actually a 24-metre high cell site at 49A Hope Road.
The massive structure that belongs to Digicel has the ability to deceive even a person with 20/20 vision and more so those wearing tested lenses. And, it was built to do so.
At first glance, it is hard to tell that the green metallic structure with its 'branches' is not a royal palm tree. Albeit, this is one 'palm tree' that the Royal Palm bug would have problems digesting.
COMMUNITY'S REQUEST
Heather Shields, marketing communications manager at Digicel, told The Gleaner that the camouflage cell site was requested by the National Environ-ment and Planning Agency (NEPA) on behalf of the residents in the nearby community.
"NEPA specifically asked for an aesthetically pleasing site... the community association did not want a site up so we went to considerable expense to disguise it to ensure that they don't see a site at first glance," noted Ms. Shields. "It is something that is offered by the manu-facturers of the towers and Calatel imports it on behalf of any cellular provider that requests it."
Ms. Shields emphasised that the fake palm tree was lawfully erected and her company was not attempting to pull wool over anyone's eyes.
