No need to disturb my neighbour

Much heat has been generated from the recent remarks made by the security minister that the Noise Abatement Act is to be reviewed. The minister seemed to have been at a party where some good music and fine liquor was flowing. Perhaps the session was under threat from the intervention of the law.

But, contrary to popular belief, the Noise Abatement Act does not confine itself to excessive partying, loud music or noise at night. It applies to any kind of noise that is deliberately caused and amplified in such a manner that the sound is audible beyond 100 metres from the source and is capable of causing annoyance to persons who are entrapped in that vicinity.

Ironically, it specifically speaks to noise or amplification of sound coming from a political meeting, and carries the same penalties for the arranger or conductor of such meetings as would be incurred by an operator of a sound system. Cause for concern?

It details the time restrictions for parties, dances or political meetings, and it states that where the operator of such sounds fails to comply with a request for reducing or discontinuing the sound by or on behalf of anyone who is affected by the sound through illness or any other reasonable cause, penalties apply.

When the sound is audible in the vicinity of any dwelling house, hospital, infirmary, nursing home, or hospital, such sound can be deemed to cause annoyance.

my experience

My friendly neighbourhood selector seems to take pride in emitting loud belching sounds over the microphone when he is rewinding. The ubiquitous and dreaded "1-2-3, microphone testing", repeated ad nauseam, is usually the first warning that a session is about to start. The music is then played or tested for a while at a reasonable volume, but don't be fooled. That's just a test run of each high-sound tweeter, not the bass. The next stage is when they go testing the bass at the loudest possible volume. That's the harbinger of things to come, as usually the bass, at this pitch, returns late at night, just in case you thought you were getting a reprieve.

Even beaches where families look forward to a relaxing Saturday or Sunday have now been taken over by the mandatory sounds. Puerto Seco in St Ann is one glorious exception to this rule.

Churches, too, need to remember that although they have a solemn mandate to reach out to all the world, Christ's Sermon on the Mount was preached without microphone, amplification, or background dubbing.

A letter to the editor, in The Gleaner's April 1 edition, speaks for those who are on the receiving end. "We live in a society of noise all around us from all sources: pounding stereo sounds from buses, taxis and cars, beaches, blasting boom boxes in the shopping plaza, parties/sessions everywhere with blaring music and screaming DJs, night after night, day after day." It's a nightmare.

other perpetrators

Noise abatement on the road also needs attention. The police, in their zeal to maintain the law, have ignored the loud and vulgar noise emitted from those vehicles that have had their mufflers removed. No person should be allowed to modify the exhaust system of a motor vehicle or any other noise-abatement device in such a manner that the noise is disturbing. Yet the perpetrators of this infringement are allowed to drive on the roads and terrorise whole communities. They can easily be prosecuted. They roar past the police stations every day.

In all fairness, the police have done well in trying to come to grips with general noise nuisances. We must congratulate them on the sensitivity they display especially to those who call in the middle of the night.

This threat to revise the law is going to run into trouble with the Charter of Rights. Having just emerged from the Manatt-Coke enquiry, one would think that the authorities would wish to avoid the type of controversy stirred up by that public issue.

Mr Minister, we are urging you, please, don't touch the law. Unless, of course, you're fooling us, and the review is meant to strengthen it.

Lance Neita is a public relations and communications professional. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com or lanceneitahotmail.com.