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Straight from the horse’s mouth it came. Noise pollution will be dealt with, it is as good as gone. Count on it. As horses go, it is a champion thoroughbred, the equal of equine immortals Holy Bull and Native Dancer. Guyana’s Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohabir Anil Nandlall promised in one of his recent programs that the countrywide noise pollution scourge will be given a kick in the seat of the pants, that this nuisance will be spoken of no more. Those who play their music will have the opportunity to enjoy their strings and sounds, but within bounds. Those who happen to be trapped in the vicinity will be comforted by volumes that are civilized, and a bow to their rights to enjoy peace and quiet.
On this occasion, I will not question the genuineness of the Minister of Justice Nandlall. If he said that besieged and sound-battered citizens will get justice, then that is what I expect it to be. Today, there’s no need to engage in any occult guesswork to determine if Mr. Nandlall will deliver on what he swore must stop. If only the decibel splitters are allowed to have their way, then what kind of society will Guyana be? A land of bleary-eyed, sleep deprived people with ringing ears as if they just disembarked from a plane where the pressure got to them, leaving them unable to comprehend basic English and the direction in which they have to go.
As the man from Carmichael Street reported, government offices are swamped with the grim record of what has become a national epidemic, with cries for the government to do something. For the Justice Minister to come straight out and say that, things must be very bad, deep into the realm of the uncontrolled. It is acknowledgement that Guyana has a problem with noise pollution and that something must give.
I read in the article in Village Voice dated September 13, 2024, that the fines can be as high as $750,000, with even a year in the slammer as a reminder about who is in charge, and who must follow orders. Minister Nandlall calls them ‘the rules.’ Whatever those are, the neighbors had better get acquainted with them mighty quickly, or they could be out of pocket by a couple hundred grand, and for the acutely hard-headed and hard of hearing, a little cooling period in a calming place well secured by iron bars.
This noise pollution culture has been allowed to go on for too long without the proper action being taken to control the volume better. It is not just the bars from where thunder roars, but it could be a bus or a car barreling along and blasting away without a care for a cop on the beat, or the citizens who have the misfortune to live on that street.
Somebody has got to make the first move to set the noise violators straight. I think that Anil Nandlall is the man for the job. Just to keep him on his toes and to ensure that he means what he said, I will be watching the moves he makes, following up to see that he makes good on what was a mouthful of commitments. Without getting too deep into the politics of noise, I think that the Justice Minister one-upped the Vice President, Dr. Bharat Jagdeo, who articulated some out of this world wisdom about what is local culture, with the result that that was the end of the matter. There is culture and then there is chaos when the former is allowed to run amok without any regard for the rights of others, including their existence in a hospitable environment.
The fact that this noise pollution situation was allowed to fester for so long, and then flourish into a community and societal monster furnish the evidence of how much official looseness and negligence became the norm. Whole neighborhoods have been struggling to cope with an inundation of sound at all hours, with little to nothing done to stop the pounding, while those responsible had a good laugh. Quality of life has suffered. Health issues have surfaced. The children and workers have paid heavy prices. Where is the law? What about some justice for the victims? Well, there is Law and Justice Minister Nandlall riding to the rescue.
Plans are afoot for things to be done. I hope that the remedies in the pipeline are representative of what has lasting meaning. There is lip service, and then there is government service. The first would embolden the disorderly and those who thumb their nose at standards. The latter should encircle the Environmental Protection Agency, the Ministry of Housing, the Guyana Revenue Authority, the Guyana Police Force, and the Guyana Prison Service, and not necessarily in that order.
For the chronically misbehaving, I would start with the last two agencies, if only to convey the resolve that noise pollution must stop, must go its way, and must be buried sixty feet under. At that depth, things should be soundproof. Now it is over to Minister Nandlall, who must lead this charge and deliver. When Guyanese can have a civilized conversation at normal voice levels, sleep uninterrupted and with hours to match, then Mr. Nandlall has delivered.
