Barring politics there can be no subject which generates more letters to the editor than that of noise nuisance. It is a problem which afflicts residents in rural as well as urban areas all over the country. In some places it appeared that noise pollution had abated during the period when Covid restrictions were in place, but now that these have been lifted the cacophony which so frequently assails the auditory senses of law-abiding citizens has returned with a vengeance.
It is not that there are no laws on the statute books in relation to noise nuisance, and while these undoubtedly should be made more rigorous, even as things stand they do not constitute altogether ineffective sanctions. The main problem is the same as that with the traffic laws: they are simply not enforced.
In January this year an Albouystown man was fined $20,000 for noise nuisance. It was something of a miracle, firstly because when someone complained at the Ruimveldt Police Station after the man had refused several times to turn down the volume of his music, officers actually went to the location. Secondly, they arrested the offender. Thirdly, they seized the stereo system which he had been using and lodged it at the station. Were that to become standard practice in all such cases it would undoubtedly make some impact on the situation, but that is the exception, not the rule.
Inevitably the authorities are not without their excuses for the failure of the police to pursue noise pollution cases. When he was Minister of Public Security, Mr Khemraj Ramjattan had said that the biggest challenge in these matters was the reluctance of persons affected by a noise problem to agree to give statements to the police against those who were to be charged. In such circumstances cases which were taken before the courts were normally thrown out because the complainants were not willing to testify as witnesses, he said.
He should have been aware that complaining about noise nuisance is not always conducive to the health and safety of the party having recourse to the police. “People are afraid of complaining openly because they would be targets of abuse, [and] violence …” wrote an Upper Corentyne group recently. They are right. There have been some horrific stories over the years, not the least of them when a Kitty resident trying to get action on a beer garden next door which constantly blared out vulgar music at all hours had acid thrown on her.
Then there was the pandit living in Crabwood Creek who was beaten to death by men who were drinking and making a noise outside his home in the early hours of the morning, and whom he had reprimanded when they abused his daughters. Needless to say the police had not responded when called, although they were all sympathy afterwards, giving assurances they would mount patrols around the village from then on.
In December last year a man was allegedly chopped by a neighbour who accused his wife of having filed a noise nuisance report against him. He was not the only one to have been chopped in relation to noise nuisance complaints. In 2018 a man went on trial in Georgetown for chopping his neighbour after he had asked for the music to be turned down. It might be noted that the police themselves have come under attack when they have turned up to deal with a noise issue. Last year, for example, they were assaulted by a woman when they responded to a noise nuisance report at Parika.
The different categories of the public who are most affected by excessive noise hardly needs reciting, just as it should not be necessary to repeat the physical and psychological damage that noise pollution can cause. But none of our Ministers of Health have ever evinced any interest in our state of health, unless, as in the case of Dr Leslie Ramsammy, that involved smoking and the damage to our lungs. But as for noise effects on our hearing, on certain physical conditions, on children or our mental health, then they are simply not interested. None of them has ever instituted an anti-noise campaign to educate people about the dangers of high-decibel sound levels.
With the advent of oil the government has aspirations for us to become a ‘modern’ society. That supposed ambition notwithstanding they still tolerate a retrograde culture where it has become the norm for the purveyors of noise whether emanating from bars, minibuses, private cars, itinerant CD vendors, wedding houses, private celebrations of all kinds and even official venues and festivities are allowed to invade the peace of their neighbours’ space and inflict actual physical and psychological injury with impunity. It should be added that this is not a reflection of our traditional culture; it is a product of modern technology in the form of sound systems over which no public control is being exercised.
There was a letter-writer in this newspaper only three days ago drawing attention to “the onslaught of the loudest ‘music’ with the most vulgar lyrics” which can be heard every Sunday afternoon on the Marriott Hotel beach, Kingston. This location, as he said, is “within a stone’s throw” of Eve Leary. One can only conclude that the police are themselves part of the noise culture, and as for the politicians, where this venue is concerned despite their asseverations to the contrary, they clearly have no intention of encouraging tourism.
The last two Ministers of Home Affairs/Public Security committed themselves to dealing with the noise nuisance problem. The failure of their efforts is there for all to see. Former Minister Rohee decided to take on the minibuses, and there was a change in the law, albeit not radical enough. However, even as it stood the police were hardly consistent in its enforcement, as a consequence of which many minibuses still continue to speed along their merry way blaring music often with vulgar lyrics at passers-by. In their case there is the additional problem that many of the passengers, brought up in a noise culture, actually like the loud music, and protest when it is switched off. Until sound systems in public transport are banned, and the police have the power to seize stereos it will be hard to change the culture. Even then, of course, the police would have to act on a consistent basis,
Former Minister Ramjattan tried a new approach and held training sessions with the police to curb noise pollution. He created an inter-agency task force to tackle the problem in order to “build a culture of law and order across the country.” One of the proposals was a move to revoke the licences of businesses that broke the law. The task force also recommended that bars and liquor restaurants be soundproofed before they could be issued with a licence by the GRA. The police were to be issued, it seems, with equipment such as noise meters, and were to be trained to analyse data. Whatever became of this theoretically commendable scheme is not known; what is known is that it has made absolutely no difference to the noise levels in the society. As for the noise meters, if they were given out, no one has yet heard of a case of them being used.
So now exasperated citizens are trying a new tack. In March we reported that an Upper Corentyne group (quoted above) called Citizens Against Noise Nuisance had gathered 262 signatures for a petition to the Guyana Police Force and the Environmental Protection Agency calling on them to deal with noise nuisance. The group says the two agencies should act on the legislation currently in place, although Parliament should pass additional laws. The members would also like to see a special unit being established at each police station to specifically deal with noise nuisance reports, since at the moment despite the many complaints made by phone at night the police are unresponsive.
One might only respectfully suggest to the group that a copy of their petition should also be sent to Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn; apart from anything else he has oversight of the GPF in addition to which changes in the law are a political matter, not something for the police or the EPA. One can only hope that others all over the country will take inspiration from the Citizens Against Noise Nuisance and form their own groups so there is a genuine civil society movement, not led by anyone in particular, but like the movement against parking meters driven by ordinary people who seek to live in a more law-abiding environment.
Noise nuisance is not a political issue, and one doesn’t want it to become one. Those doing the complaining about noise in the society are government supporters, opposition supporters, and supporters of no political entity in particular. The governments which have failed to solve the problem come from both sides of the House; no one shares more responsibility for the lawlessness than anyone else. The current government since it is in office will have to be the one to initiate action, and if it does it should be given the wholehearted support of the opposition. Everyone who lives within the boundaries of Guyana is entitled to live their life undisturbed by their neighbour’s noise.
