Dear Editor,
In a way, I am replying to three recent letters complaining about this deafening problem of noise nuisance, all published in SN under the following captions: ‘Noisy shows are affecting residents’ by Roshan Khan, ‘Let’s reclaim Guyana from the noise-makers’ by a resident affected by noise emanating from the fish shop in Drury Lane, and ‘The authorities should be safeguarding citizens’ right to quietness in their homes’ by Joyce Jonas. However, it was the opening sentence in Jonas’s letter that lent to the urgency of this response, which reads, ‘Once again I’m asking myself if anyone out there is actually listening to what the people are saying.’
On Friday, March 20, 2009, the Drury Lane fish shop went into top gear disrespecting the ordinary man, the law, the church hosting a lecture on the first five years in a child’s development and focusing on the importance of reading and God – so high was the music. So unbearable was the noise disrupting my plans to launch a book on two separate occasions and in two counties on the following day, that I reported the matter four times to the police: three times to Kitty Police Station and once to Impact leaving my full and correct name and my full and correct address. The reports were made between 12 midnight and 1.35 am; each report was handled with due courtesy but nothing came of the matter while I was awake and in deep fatigue, for I slumped into a stupor over my books just after 2 am.
My wife was alarmed over my identifying myself to the police contending it was a very hard place to be caught between the police and the criminals (they are criminals, breaking the law, are they not?). She couldn’t sleep for the remainder of the night indicating that the noise grew louder after each complaint.
Dear Editor, something is wrong, definitely wrong, that such abuse can continue for so long. Is anyone listening to these little noises we sufferers are making?
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address
provided)
