A perennial nuisance most difficult to curb

Mar 08, 2014 Editorial

There is nothing more frustrating than going home to rest and being unable to. Some people suffer this discomfort because of domestic squabbles, others because the weight of domestic duties is such that they must satisfy these duties before they can rest, and yet others for medical reasons.
In the case of the second, for example, many women work outside the home and must then go home to tend to children and husbands, who in the typical West Indian tradition, believe that they are exempt from certain duties.
What is worse for everyone concerned is the noise that disrupts sleep when that sleep is much needed. People have been known to come to work the next day bleary-eyed because they simply could not sleep. They offered all manner of excuses not least among them warring neighbours who beg attention through their raucous behaviour.
However, the most disturbing have been those playing loud music until the wee hours of the morning. In many cases the music is the base of the impromptu parties, be they birthdays, christenings or simply a case of music for music sake. There are those who for their own entertainment would play their music as loudly as they could, regardless of the discomfort to neighbours.
The police have expressed zero tolerance for such behaviour which has spread its tentacles into the city. The evidence of urban migration is overwhelming. For starters, the music sets are much larger than they were a few decades ago. Even the speakers are much more powerful than their counterparts of yesteryear. The law precludes anyone from using noise-making instruments without the express permission of the law.
The consequence has been nightclubs which do not have soundproofing or noise abatement facilities are descended on by the police. In some cases the music equipment is removed and the proprietors prosecuted. And such actions are not confined to the nightclubs or to those homes that host parties.
Tradition allows certain instances when people can play their music loudly. One instance is a wedding. In rural Guyana wedding receptions are either at homes or in community halls. Neighbours do not complain about noise nuisance because more often than not, they are invited.
With the increased movement of people from the rural area to the urban communities where noise tolerance is less there could be problems.
Our contention is that there should not be the selective application of the laws governing noise nuisance. Whenever there is a report of a disturbance the police should act. Sometimes it matters that there is no complaint. The police patrols would often encounter cases of noise nuisance but they sometimes pay no attention to it.
There have been complaints of people paying the police to ignore the issue. But more often than not, the police would insist that the volume be lowered.
Minibus operators have been the most targeted among us, but one would never know that, given the continued chances they take to maintain their reputations. The culture is embedded. A solution to that aspect seems some way off.
Suffice it to say that the issue of noise nuisance is not confined to music sets. These days there are places of worship that are well-known for their energetic, hyped-up services. They too have large speakers and they too are known to drown out the neighbourhood. The respect for religion often allows the “offenders” to get away with the noise nuisance, although more and more people are complaining.
Prosecutions are not as frequent as one would expect given the repeated breaches of the law. It must be because the courts are overcrowded and because the authorities prefer to resort to other means. Perhaps there could be a case the patrols issuing tickets that could be paid on the spot. Perhaps the only resort to the court should be based on the offenders’ desire to defend his action.
One is not clear whether the law allows for ticketing, but if this nuisance is to be curbed that may be the way to go, and the fines should be hefty.

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