TT Citizens Against Noise

UK Noise Act 1996

2006-10-01T07:22:00.000-04:00

Boom Cars

2006-10-01T07:17:00.000-04:00

Lawsuit

2006-10-01T07:14:00.000-04:00

St. Petersburg Times, 2004
Copyright Times Publishing Co. Nov 21, 2004

Judy Ellis says she is a victim of "audio terrorism" and wants to lower the boom. Of a particular teen's car stereo, that is.
The Lakewood Estates woman, who would also like to stifle loud leaf blowers and has teamed up with antinoise folks across the nation, now is after the blasting, throbbing music of a vehicle and its owner she says are terrorizing her neighborhood.
Last week, Mrs. Ellis, 63, filed a lawsuit against 18-year-old Ryan Jennings in a bid to quiet his music and get monetary damages. He was served late Friday afternoon.
Drastic as her action might seem, Mrs. Ellis says she had no choice.
"Somebody has to make this kid understand that his behavior is socially unacceptable. It is not neighborly," she said.
"I hate to do this, but what recourse do I have to stop him from forcing his painful noise on me? I get a pain in my chest when the noise gets close to my house. I feel it in my chest before I hear it," said Mrs. Ellis, who says she suffers from vibroacoustic disease.
She lives half a mile from Jennings but said the teenager uses two nearby streets on his way to school.
"That's at 6:30 in the morning. Most people are sleeping," she said.
"No one should have to have their windows and doors rattled, dogs barking, people being woken up by someone who has been told by the police, by his parents, by his neighbors that he is violating the law and disturbing the peace."
Jennings, who prefers rap music, said his system's subwoofers "are not really that powerful." They are, however, "pretty loud," he admitted.
Jennings' mother, Bonnie, agrees that her son's music is loud. She and her husband have spoken to him about it, she said.
"We've asked him to turn it down when he's in the neighborhood. . . . I know it's loud. But it's not just him," she said as she stood in front of her Lakewood Estates home Thursday afternoon.
She said her son no longer plays his music loudly when he leaves for school at 6:30 a.m. or when he returns home to meet his 10 p.m. weekday or 11 p.m. weekend curfew.
Mrs. Ellis agreed that Jennings has "modified" his behavior but said, "I have no guarantee that he's not going to get up two days from now and say, to heck with it, and turn that thing up again."
While admitting that her son's car stereo can be loud, his mother said he is being harassed by Mrs. Ellis.
"At 6, 6:30, she's out there following him to school. I don't know why she's doing this," Mrs. Jennings said.
Her son, a Lakewood High student, feels "like if she has that big of a problem, instead of following me around everywhere, she could have like come to my house and asked for me personally and talk to me and talk to my parents."
But Mrs. Ellis said she has done enough talking.
"I talked to her (Mrs. Jennings) on the phone, and her direct words to me were, 'He doesn't pay any attention to me.' She said she would try to talk to him," said Mrs. Ellis, a retired legal assistant and a member of Lakewood Estates' neighborhood crime patrol.
"The first time I saw him was last spring. He came down my street on the afternoon of March 29 in a blue Jeep. I could hear him coming for blocks. Several minutes later, I heard him coming back."
She followed the teenager. When he pulled up at a friend's house, Mrs. Ellis said she asked him if he was aware that playing his stereo at that level was against the law.
"He glared at me and turned his back and picked up his cell phone and started talking. Then he said, 'What do you want me to do, lady? Cry you a river?' "
In her lawsuit, Mrs. Ellis included a letter sent by Lakewood Estates Community Police Officer Richard Grimberg to Jennings' parents - to whom the vehicle their son was driving was registered.
"To avoid further involvement on the part of the St. Petersburg Police Department, and out of respect for those who live here, we request that you 'tone down' your car stereo," the letter said.
Grimberg said during an interview Friday that a state statute prohibits music or any other noise loud enough from a vehicle on a street to be heard 100 feet away. The letter the Jenningses received was similar to those sent to other Lakewood Estates residents, he said.
"It's just a courtesy letter, just a friendly reminder. We just ask them to be ever mindful of the residents in the area," Grimberg said.
"By the same token, we also send out good-guy letters. We just want people to know that there is an awareness out there and we want them to obey the law."
In her lawsuit filed in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court last week, Mrs. Ellis says Jennings has caused her pain and suffering and robbed her of her right to peaceful enjoyment of her home.
Specifically, she says she has suffered from the low-frequency vibrations of his music. The noise, she says, has interrupted her "thought processes," increased her blood pressure and caused pain near her heart.
The teenager would like the lawsuit to go away.
"If we can come to some sort of a deal like, maybe I could write a little sticky note or something before I get in the neighborhood and it would remind me" to turn down the music, he said.

Soca Broadway & the Marriott

2006-09-30T20:18:00.000-04:00

Article by Sandra Chouthi

Businessman Joe Esau, a director of Caribbean Hospitality T&T Ltd, which owns Courtyard Marriott Port-of-Spain hotel at Invaders Bay, has written to the Environmental Management Authority (EMA), complaining of noise levels emanating from Soca Broadway at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
President of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce Christian Mouttet, also a director of Caribbean Hospitality, said the letter was sent to the EMA complaining about the problems the levels at which the music is played have caused.
Marriott, which is a business hotel, is located west of the Audrey Jeffers Highway.
Mouttet said that fortunately, the hotel is fuller during the week than it is on weekends, and if guests complain, they are moved to another part of the hotel.
Mayling Trenidad, general manager of the Courtyard Marriott Port-of-Spain, said yesterday that “a couple of guests complained” about the loud music at events held at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on Friday and Saturday nights.
She said the music was especially loud when the events were held at the front of the stadium, that is, facing the Audrey Jeffers Highway.
“We normally look at how we can change their rooms or give them some sort of compensation,” Trenidad said.
She said the form of the compensation offered to guests “depends on how irate the guests are.”
Trenidad said her office shook when the music played at the stadium was very loud.
“Anytime there is an event going on at the stadium and it is loud, we have complaints,” Trenidad said.
“That is one of the reasons we asked the EMA to get involved. If they can control the noise levels, it would be all right. I don’t think you can stop it, but I think we can definitely look for ways in which it can be controlled.”
Residents of Woodbrook have also complained of noise pollution from the weekend shows.
EMA CEO Dr Dave McIntosh acknowledged receipt of Esau’s letter, stating that in one instance, a Marriott guest had moved out.
“It’s not only that letter, but also complaints from residents of Woodbrook,” McIntosh said.
“We have been monitoring this since January 1, but we are concerned and are trying to bring it into compliance, so that hotel guests and residents can have tolerable levels of sound coming from the source, which is the National Stadium.”
McIntosh said the violator of the noise pollution rules was the National Stadium, which fell under the control of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, and not the promoter.
“The EMA has issued several notices of violations (to the Ministry of Sports),” McIntosh said.
He said officials of the Ministry of Sports have held meetings with the EMA, and the stadium management and the promoter of Soca Broadway, soca artiste Iwer George, have been working together with the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute, so that the sound engineer can turn the volume down.
McIntosh said last week he met with Woodbrook residents, “who recognise they must co-exist, but they need to get the levels down to one where it meets the noise pollution standards, which can give them enough quiet so they can rest at nights.
Sports Minister Roger Boynes was not in his office when the Guardian tried to contact him for comment.
February 27, 2006

Educate public on Environment Laws

2006-09-30T20:12:00.000-04:00

Educate public on environment laws
I write in response to Clyde Evanson of Diego Martin who posed an interesting, almost philosophical question: “Is there not some law covering noise pollution?”
Ah, Evanson, better leave well enough alone. It might be far less perplexing to ponder Darwin’s Theory.
If there is an answer, it may rank as the world’s third most well kept secret, after the Angostura Bitters recipe and Osama’s current whereabouts.
As a result of my own continuous attempts to secure a response to the noise question, I now sport three grey hairs (with a fourth looming) and a sharpened cynicism concerning the EMA’s commitment towards producing a workable policy on the enforcement of noise pollution.
I wish all those suffering from the effects of noise the best of luck, for you surely need it.
Recently the EMA’s CEO, in a baffling “strategic” move that fooled no one, divulged my full name and address, along with details of my noise complaint, to the public by means of a letter to the editor. Such unprofessional conduct will serve only to discourage potential complainants. I hope this was not the intention behind the letter.
The EMA’s CEO ought to realise that the proof of the pudding is in the tasting, and public organisations which are failing us should avoid pathetic attempts to justify their non-performance by attacking citizens who have real and verifiable concerns.
The public does not care one hoot about the CEO’s explanations. We would surely prefer to see results.
Again I urge the EMA to commit resources for the purpose of public education about our environmental laws and the penalties which may be incurred. Surely this is worth far more than prize-giving ceremonies and media appearances of which the EMA seems so fond.
As citizens of T&T, we all support the enforcement of laws and policy which will eventually have a positive impact on our country.
Please EMA, do your part and earn the respect and support of your stakeholders.

A Sankar
Trinidad Guardian
October 23, 2004

Express Editorial- EMA & Standards

2006-09-30T20:09:00.000-04:00

Santa & EMA

2006-09-30T20:05:00.000-04:00

Begging Santa for an EMA that acts

SOME people may look forward to public holidays and weekends. Not I. Thanks to the Environmental Management Authority’s inefficiency and lack of respect for stakeholder feedback on issues relating to noise pollution, my family and I have not had a true Trini Christmas since 2000.
Having had a lead-up this weekend, I know what to expect for the rest of the season and then, of course, for Carnival and the rest of the year.
I will awake to the sound of my neighbours blasting music from 6 am till night. These goodly folk don’t know about the EMA or noise laws.
Actually, I am beginning to wonder if the EMA even exists, since in five odd years, they appear to be paralysed into inaction.
I find it strange that the EMA refuses to use public awareness campaigns to address the public’s mind to noise laws. We are seeing Nikki Crosby campaign against littering, why not something similar for noise?
Why can’t EMA officers come to my neighbourhood and educate the multitude of persons violating the noise regulations?
Why must I have to complain month after month for the law to be enforced or if unenforceable, then reviewed?
Why should a public organisation with a mandate to enforce noise regulations, blatantly refuse to allocate resources to their enforcement, thereby effectively crippling the intent of the legislation?
What does the board of the EMA think of the numerous newspaper articles regarding the proven ineffectiveness of the EMA?
What must the relevant minister think of a fairly independent agency under her purview, not meeting standards and creating so much discord and unhappiness among our citizens?
I feel sorry for the two constables of the Environmental Police Unit, whose task it is to respond to a litany of environmental complaints across the country.
What can we expect of them when their plate is so full? Far from being on call, these officers (up to June 2005) were not even equipped with official mobile phones to be able to receive direct complaints from citizens who are hurting from environmental breaches.
Such public arrogance is certainly not synonymous with our country’s stated Vision 2020 objectives. In my last hope for Christmas, I am begging Santa Claus to bring me an EMA with decision-makers who act in the best interest of the public.
Maybe Santa could throw in a public awareness campaign, a few mobile phones for the enforcement officers.
Perhaps a week-long training programme for EMA employees, which informs them of their role as servants of the public, how to respond to correspondence and written feedback and the significance of returning calls to members of the public who take the time to make direct contact.

A Sankar

Trinidad Guardian
December 18, 2005

Noisy Mufflers

2006-09-30T20:00:00.000-04:00

Noisy mufflers are a nuisance
The local manufacturers of noisy car mufflers should take example from our Bajan neighbours and show more concern for noise pollution on our roadways, especially in residential areas.
At a meeting to examine the draft noise abatement green paper it was reported in the dailies that the managing director of one of Barbados’ biggest supplier of noisy car mufflers publicly admitted that he is responsible for some of the noise that exists.
The EMA is doing nothing and the Ministry of Transport is also very silent on the matter.
I suggest to the authorities to put a stop to the manufacturing of these noisy mufflers and start a campaign to get car owners to remove these noisemakers from their vehicles. A deadline should be immediately set. Please, not a 2020 deadline!
I suggest that the authorities also
include the removal of massive boom boxes which invade our privacy and serenity.
Vincent Hernandez
Trinidad Guardian
July 19th, 2005

Please, EMA, hear our plea

2006-09-30T19:58:00.000-04:00

Please, EMA, hear our plea
For many years the residents of Braithwaite Street, Tunapuna have been experiencing a noise pollution problem caused by a steel fabrication company.
For more than two years several attempts have been made to get the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) to look into the matter but to no avail. Nothing has been done and all you get from this so-called authority is: “will check into it”, or “we will be sending someone to look into the matter,” or even worse “we made a check but it has been so long that we have to come back and take new readings or recording.”
Now tell me, if over two years ago readings were taken and have since expired, can you imagine how long it will take the EMA to get new ones and act on them?
We the residence are truly tired and fed-up and would like to know why the EMA has not taken serious actions against this company. One wonder if the reasons for enacting laws and acts are just to pacify citizens of this country.
Criminals are arrested if the law is broken, so what about the owner of this fabrication company? Tell me why can this company can’t relocate to one of the many industrial estates.
Braithwaite Street residence have newborn babies, there are people who are studying and those who are sick. All day long they hear steel dropping and pounding from as early as 8 am to 5.30 pm and even later.
And this also occurs on Saturdays and Sundays too.
Please, we are literally begging for our voices to be heard. Please, EMA, do something about this noise pollution.
We are hoping for some results before the end of the year.
Abigail Perry
Tunapuna

Trinidad Guardian
October 13, 2004

Letter to Editor

2006-09-30T19:50:00.000-04:00

Speak up about the noise
MY subject is the intolerable level of noise which now permeates life in T&T.
Over-amplified music blasts from bars and cafes, from shops and vehicles, from private and public parties.
No one seems to exercise any control on the volume generally, on the bass level in particular, or on the times of day and night when such music pounds out.
I live in England but I was born a Trinidad and return almost every year.
My family has enjoyed holidays at Crown Point, Tobago for more than 30 years and, on each trip, I spend some of my time there.
Unfortunately, over the past few years, the blissful sense of rest and relaxation we experienced there has been greatly diminished by all night music from nearby bars and hotels on Friday and Saturday nights.
Sitting out in the garden with family and friends on those nights is now unbearable and a good night’s sleep is almost impossible.
In Trinidad, on recent visits to Maracas Beach, we were bombarded by music from vehicles and from the food stalls which operate there. In shops, the music is sometimes so loud that we have simply walked out.
This cannot bode well for the tourism industry in Tobago nor for the general well-being of local people who have no choice but to continue to live, work and study amidst such disruptive and disturbing noise levels.
Laws regarding noise pollution are not enforced by the authorities, thus they are flouted everywhere.
People, in general, either appear to have become inured to such disturbance or endure it while feeling powerless to effect any change.
There are two problems which need addressing: firstly, bringing the volume of amplified music down to a more acceptable level (ie so that it is not disturbing others in the area) and secondly, limiting the times at which such heavily amplified music might be played (in many holiday resorts and in residential areas around the world, it is deemed unreasonable to play loud music after midnight).
A two-pronged approach is needed: an educational campaign to raise public awareness of our neighbour’s right to peace and quiet and, alongside that, enforcement of the noise pollution laws so that the law-breakers begin to get the message.
I wonder whether there are others who also feel that this situation is threatening the quality of everyday life on our islands?
If so, please write to the newspapers, to your MP, and especially to the Environmental Management Authority (which has responsibility for writing and enforcing relevant laws and regulations and for educating the public about the nation’s environmental issues).
Make your voice heard amid the din.
Christine Bass
England

Are you satisfied living like this?

2006-09-30T06:29:00.000-04:00

Do you work? Study? Raise a family? Pay taxes? You have a right to enjoy your home in the way that you choose. You are entitled to read, watch tv, or rest without hearing your neighbour's music, without being entertained by a parked car boom box. In every civilized country in the world, loud music and other forms of noise pollution are not tolerated by the law, because law enforcement recognizes the basic right of an individual to exist in an atmosphere of peace and quiet.
In T&T, we no longer enjoy these rights. We live as hostages in our own homes, while we continue to work hard and serve our country. This is simply not acceptable. Our families suffer, and our health suffers silently.

The authorities have turned a blind eye to noise pollution, because the population has not forced them to do otherwise. When only a few persons speak up, they are considered to be complainers . If you are suffering from noise pollution, and wish to effect change in the enforcement of the law, there are steps you can take, and which we can take together.

You are welcome to post on this website, and share your experiences, suggestions, research and recommendations with us. However, this site is not just a journal, it is a platform for the change we need to initiate. Your proposals, flyers, or other documents are also invited. Towards a quieter and more civilized nation for us all. TTCAN.