Dear Editor,
We have Starlite’s proprietor Mr Maurice Sookhoo and the sponsor, King’s Jewellery to thank for the noise misery on Sunday, September 26, 2010. Maybe we should also thank the magistrate and the police at Sparendaam for granting permission.
Our Sunday was demolished by the noise-makers posing as duck curry competitors. From midday it was testing, thumping and slamming; and from 2pm it was all hell breaking loose until 10pm. By some stretch of the imagination, the sponsor believes he is helping culture. Where and how? Could it be that he enjoys the noise and has fun disturbing others? Why not keep it in front of his home? How would he like me to play noisy nonsense in front his home for 10 hours? He would want me arrested.
This is a time career people and us disciplined and hardworking business people wish to rest a bit to recharge and refresh. On Monday morning along with neighbours in Atlantic Gardens, we were beaten, broken and tired, with headaches. Throughout the show from midday to 10 pm, my wife was suffering from a major migraine. When the show was finished our heads were pulsating and we could no longer sleep.
Those who were the revellers, the rum-drinkers and the so-called merry-makers who were at it, dancing and wining, eating duck and drinking drum, took Monday off, as did the performers. I called a senior organizer of the show, and learnt that he would not be at work that day; he was too tired and could afford to rest. The musicians and performers could afford to sleep, and the sound system renters made their money and could also sleep. But we have to suffer.
Noise! Noise! At any time it disturbs people and it is illegal. I sometimes wonder if the magistrates who give these permits are bereft of sense. In July the Starlite Drive-in had four shows, and even two on one weekend. How can children study? How can we rest, how can the old and those with heart ailments take the constant banging in the earth and the air with that bass vibrating. Some ridiculous parents took children; a little child got lost in all that noise and alcohol.
It has been shown scientifically that loud sounds hurt the hearing system, but this lifestyle impresses young minds and they like these things, so the rum business and noise business are guaranteed by addicting the youths.
Are the promoters bereft of sense? Can they not have a disciplined show for say three or four hours? They think that allowing visitors to perform is a treat for the public; how foolish.
As for Starlite, we have a court order against noise-making and disturbing us, but the proprietor has no regard for the order and is facing contempt charges.
Now another show is already being marketed as ‘Glow Madness’ in November, with the loudest sound system in the world. For a small area like Atlantic Gardens, why do they need a sound system that is the loudest in the world? Maybe it is a conspiracy to make people deaf and mad, and the Government of Guyana will have to foot the medical bills when people become sick.
Yours faithfully,
Roshan Khan