Dear Editor,
Some things will only get worse in Guyana, as they have become entrenched in the local culture. This thought went through my mind, as I recalled back in April 2022, a North Road resident’s vain complaint about noise from a neighbour. This complainant explained at the time that “ … a neighbour has been constantly disturbing her by playing loud music and her reports to Police have not yielded any positive outcome.” I dare say, this kind of reporting and complaining will always be in vain, and even dangerous, as Guyana is all but primitive and uncivilised in many areas, one being a ‘steeped-in-noise’ locale.
Editor, there is the law. We can read it: “The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hereby informs the general public that excessive emission of noise is an offence under the Environmental Protection (Noise Management) Regulations (2000). Defaulters can be fined up to $700,000 and face up to one year imprisonment.” Then there was a ‘supposed-to-be’ collaboration between the GPF and EPA, when the preponderance of ‘noise complaints”, led to a “Memorandum of Agreement … signed between the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).” That MoA, as we recall, was signed by Deputy Commissioner ‘Administration’ (ag), Calvin Brutus, and Executive Director of the EPA, Kemraj Parsram. My question is: “What did this achieve?”
It gets even more bizarre, as I invoke a third party. This time, it is the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) and its “Guidelines/Standard for noise emission into the environment (GYS 263:2010)”. According to GNBS, this Standard is very useful for those who cause noise or are affected by noise and need guidelines to manage or determine emission levels. One paragraph of the document states that “Limits are specified for daytime and night-time in decibels (Db), with night-time limits always being lower than daytime. For residential, daytime limits are 75 decibels and night-time it is 60 decibels. Meanwhile, industrial limits are set at 100 decibels during the day and 80 in the night.”
Again, this was a time-wasting exercise. Just look at this. Not too long ago, the EPA presented the Guyana Police Force with a mere 25 sound level meters, but have these ever been used? Plus, noise pollution is so obvious that we don’t even need to report it. If there is the will by the enforcing agencies to bring this violation to an end, all they have to do is simply drive around the areas and ‘apply the law’, that is simply read the riot act; under the summary jurisdiction act, the fine for the first conviction is $7500 to $10,000 and up to $15,000. For the second offence, $10,000 to $20,000. Under the EPA Act, it starts at $80,000 to $750,000.
So, why is there no change, but instead, the noise culture is just blossoming more and more?
I go back to an Aug 15 letter, “Noise pollution will never be addressed in Guyana”, in which the writer referred to another letter, “Please, Take Our Plea Seriously.” This was signed by 42 Enmore residents, who were “… expressing their disgust at DJs, bars, music carts, vehicles and wedding houses…” from which very loud noise kept hammering them, disrupting their lives at every level – health, studies, family time, listening to the news, and on and on.
I have personally called police stations incessantly to intervene, but the generic response is “We will send the patrol.” So, even though, as noted “Over time in the media, there has been a plethora of complaints from persons in various parts of the country pertaining to noise nuisance … one common gripe was the perceived lack of action by the authorities to fully address the situation.”
So, the ‘bluffing and promising’ continue. I remember Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn, who did weigh in on the issue of noise nuisance, saying that “… excessive noise in discos, nightclubs, and bars across Guyana will lead to immediate closure by local authorities.” This is so tickling.
Closing off my little piece, I go back to the August 15 Prescott Mann contribution. He reminded readers about Rishi Barrat called “Haribol, a religious leader, who met his demise, a brutal murder, when after failing to get help from the Police, he confronted several men who were imbibing and using indecent language in front of his very own premises. He was brutally beaten to death.
Like that writer, I advise that good citizens “… find a way to ‘get by’ until they can get out (as many Guyanese have their eyes on North America and are awaiting maturity of sponsorship). Guyana is quagmired in a cultural abyss of pure decadence. The President and his ‘gravy riders’ are more concerned about bush cook, beach cricket, dominoes, volleyball and a host of ‘fun’ activities. Hence, ‘aspiring citizens’ must pursue their legal exit…the earlier the better. As a caveat, those ‘good citizens’ in the Providence environs, plan for the Guyana leg of CPL turbulence.
Yours truly,
Deodat Singh
