Dear Editor,
For 42 years Lot 6 Fairs Rust has been the residence of Nelson ‘Natty’ Bakker and it still is. Fairs Rust is one of the designated residential areas south of Mackenzie in the mining town of Linden, Region 10. For almost all those years the resident lived comfortably in a zone of relative peace and quiet which he cherished dearly. Sadly, not so any more. As it is today Mr ‘Natty’ Bakker and neighbours are all peeved and riled up against what they consider a “noise invasion” – unfriendly environmental behaviour and other reckless practices. According to the residents it all started about two years ago when a Chinese lumber company – PING – an exporter of lumber rented the house at Lot 7 belonging to a Lindener for what they thought would be a normal dwelling, only later to realise that it would be used as the base for a mechanical workshop and for the servicing of a fleet of heavy-duty machinery required for the harvesting and the transport of lumber. It was reminiscent of the days of the bauxite company’s Heavy Earth-moving Equipment Depart-ment (HEED) which was located in the mines.
One doesn’t have to stretch the imagination too much for an understanding of the kind of noise and damage to roads these massive machines are capable of. (Please note that except in odd situations special roads were built for these vehicles to ply.)
And this is exactly what the residents are upset about, especially the two immediate neighbours on the right and left: Mr ‘Natty’ Bakker and Mr Denzil Parris, who have been living there for the past 23 years. They are complaining bitterly about being “hammered” daily, with constant banging Sunday to Sunday twenty-four/seven without respite. Such is the nature of the logging business.
But there is a law against noise nuisance. Mr Parris said sometimes he is pushed over the brink and is forced to accost them with harsh, caustic words. Sometimes he works at night, thus he has much difficulty getting proper rest. They talk about arc welding going on without having the protective welding screens to shut out the hazardous arc-rays. The residents’ bone of contention here is that this kind of work in this area, apart from being a nuisance, is highly disrespectful and a total a violation of their residential status, since they pay higher taxes than other communities. Thus they ponder why after all the years they should now be now subjected to the vulgar, lawless behaviour of a foreign company without any regard for their well-being. Why can’t they find another more appropriate location which is not difficult to come by? Residents are also
concerned about the regular littering by the workers, where food boxes, bottles, cans, plastic bags and such like are scattered all around; about garbage bins not being properly secured allowing for stray animals foraging for food to make a filthy, ugly mess by dragging the garbage wherever. There is also the matter of vehicles being washed on the roads by one contractor trucking bauxite for Bosai, and the Chinese causing the stuff from the road to silt up the drains; and giant containers bringing in equipment damaging the roads, making them more deplorable.
According to Mr Bakker several times reports were made to the Town Council and in 2012 when the workshop was set up the Linden NCN was called in, video footage was made and shown on national television – all to no avail. The aggrieved residents are further upset that the owner of the rented property who has never lived there does not understand their situation and neither does he seem to be bothered.
They are hoping that by way of this letter this disturbing and unwholesome state of affairs will finally attract some attention whereby this matter could be addressed and rectified forthwith.
Yours faithfully,
Frank Fyffe
