Silence over noise

This year, I assigned myself the painful task of monitoring public opinion on cynical breaches of the law, common decency, and the duty of community care when it comes to noise pollution in our country.

Yes, I have been constantly reminded of the assured futility of such campaigns. “Drop it, Wesley. Ain’t gonna happen” is the now routine response to my view that there are ways to assess the state of our civilisation, and the phenomenon of noise impunity is one that should be firmly resolved.

Like-minded individuals and organisations have become used to the fact that vocal protests are easily drowned out by the near and distant clatter of bamboo, squibs, and all varieties of noisy pyrotechnics quite pointedly controlled by legislation, including but not restricted to those related to the storage and use of explosives.

If we were to discuss only the law-breaking features of this subject, we could point to the fact that there is no shortage of legislative guidance. There are our Noise Pollution Rules under the Environmental Management Act, the Explosives Act Chap 16:02, the Summary Offences Act Chap 11:02, and the Public Holiday and Festival Act Chap 19:05. But this goes beyond what the laws prescribe.

Every now and then, we are thrown the mamaguy of “zero-tolerance” policy. My notes and past dispatches on this can fill volumes on the subject. And though I am aware that I am not alone, there appear to be sad signs of battle-weary retreat by others.

There has been the gradual muting of dissent resulting from awareness of the fact that neither decision-makers at the highest levels nor street-level noisemakers seem willing to at least reflect on the multi-dimensional damage being sustained.

There have been times when hope appeared. Eight years ago, then Public Administration and Communications Minister, Maxie Cuffie, declared unequivocal commitment to address the issue. He went further down this dark, deserted alley on this matter than any other government minister I can recall.

I had hoped that even as his Cabinet colleagues eventually dropped the campaign, and in the sanctity of his retirement, Cuffie would not have abandoned the cause. Ditto former commissioners of police ostensibly no longer under the yoke of surrender to economic muscle, imprecise statute, political pressures, and misguided notions regarding what constitutes cultural norms.

On the latter point, I have pointed before to the fact that around the globe there have been longstanding “cultural practices” that have been found to be harmful and which reasonable people must continue to oppose.

There is sufficient evidence that our noisemaking at selected times of the year causes physical and emotional harm to people, animals, and our natural environment.

There are interest groups in T&T that have explored the matter in detail, and I will not recount the numerous examples cited, except to add that exceptions to the locating of “acceptable” levels of noise do not always consider their impact on wildlife with direct and indirect implications for our endangered biodiversity.

I once sat in on an eye-opening discussion by experts contemplating expansion of the reach of our Noise Pollution Rules. In the end, politics and “the culture” reigned.

The TTSPCA and other animal care organisations are (sensibly) focusing on coping mechanisms rather than on their past enthusiasm for ameliorative measures.

Letter writers to the press have become less strident in their condemnation. Perennial contributors such as “DF Redmond” of Laventille (I scoured the list of electors for the name but could not find it, but I am hoping that protection through anonymity is not the case) are increasingly being marginalised.

Let me quote him/her in his last submission: “Is this a civilised country? Is this a real place? How could bars, tyre shops, mini-marts, car wash establishments, idiot car DJs, etc, seem to have an untrammelled right to disturb entire neighbourhoods, and nary a word from all these patriots?

This paucity of genuine, impassioned responsibility is as much a crisis today as our worsening crime situation.”

My old friend, Neil Reynald, chimed in a few months ago by invoking the links that enjoin the different forms of criminality: “Despite legislation for noise disturbance/littering/gang activities/illegal firearm ownership, these activities continue unabated and without control.”  

Maybe it’s just my imagination or lapses in my monitoring of public opinion on this, but could it be we have begun queuing meekly and silently like lambs to the slaughter in the face of a connected string of criminal behaviour?

“Zero-tolerance” needs to extend beyond the platforms of official edict. Silence over noise is not an option.