Dear Editor,
I would like to add my annual complaint about the upcoming Mash noise nuisance to that of the writer(s) of the letter headlined, ‘Elders of Queenstown, Bel Air Park in fear of February 23’ (SN: 08/02/2020).
My father, who is 94, and I plan to evacuate our Queenstown home – a now biannual evacuation what with the newfound Carnival noise nuisance upcoming in May – since we cannot live through the unlawful noise levels for even an hour; and it is not right for anyone to say that it is only for a day and only twice each year so just grin and bear it.
The law is flexible in Guyana and bends towards those in authority. That’s a known and, it does appear, an accepted and acceptable fact of life here. The biannual culprits are not only the large corporations like Banks DIH but the Mayor and City Council and the Guyana government itself.
The Environmental Protection Agency has never uttered a word about the pounding levels of noise that goes on for up to 12 hours non-stop despite all their public information about the dangers to health such decibel levels pose if you are exposed to them for even a brief time.
The Guyana Police Force, who are known to go after rum-shops and bars and wedding houses with much zeal for much less noise disruption, simply stand around all day and oversee the lawlessness.
Lawlessness pervades our entire society. For a small population, we are constantly dealing with all manners and levels of violence and indecencies including our now daily diet of news of governmental corruption regarding the oil find, which is being heralded as the panacea for all our ills but is beginning to sound more and more like a snake oil story.
This letter, as all others before, will fall on deaf ears, ears made deaf by the unlawful levels of noise and which will undoubtedly miss out on hearing that mighty oil boom if/when it happens.
Yours faithfully,
Ryhaan Shah
