Dear Editor,
I am writing to ask for your intervention in a matter of great urgency in the town of New Amsterdam and it concerns the application of laws, rules, and regulations (or lack thereof) in the matter of noise abatement at the comer of Trinity and Main Streets.
I am the new Priest-in-Charge of All Saints Anglican Church, located at the intersection of the above-mentioned streets. From the time I arrived here I can hardly get to sleep at nights as vendors or revellers play their music from either stationary or moving vehicles at maximum levels on and around this very comer.
From about 9 pm to 2 am these vendors and/or revellers play their music at their loudest settings, so much so that the powerful bass notes cause things in the rectory to vibrate and shake. Not only is this an affront to the human ears but the cacophony of sounds produced from these CDs is an assault on everyone around here.
I honestly don’t know how the neighbours in this particular vicinity put up with such bedlam night after night, not to mention that there is a religious building, a holy edifice, of great historical significance right on this very comer. The sounds emanate from all sides of the rectory and the vendors seem to compete with each other for attention.
I am writing to request humbly that the police or Town Council officers put an immediate end to this assault on human dignity night after night so that all those who live in this area can have a decent night’s rest. Sad to say, I am yet to have one in the ancient County of Berbice and more especially in New Amsterdam.
I do believe that applicable laws, rules, and regulations, governing the abatement of noise in this community as well as disturbance of the peace ought to be put into effect immediately, and all steps taken to run these vendors and/or revellers out of town and take their loud music elsewhere. Truly, it has reached an unbearable point.
The officials concerned should please take my request under consideration and come themselves or send an official representative(s) to actually witness and hear what is being played at the loudest possible volume at midnight on the comer of Trinity and Main Streets in New Amsterdam. I think they will be shocked at what residents and visitors have to put up with.
May I take this opportunity to thank you all in advance for their urgent and serious consideration of my request for the good of all concerned and may I say that, having been a visitor to this town as a young man, I simply cannot remember any such assault on human dignity and the peace of the night as I am witnessing now.
Yours faithfully,
Fr William Guthrie
Priest-in-Charge
Editor’s note
We are sending a copy of this letter to the Minister for Public Security, Mr Khemraj Ramjattan, for any comment he might wish to make.