00:00Noise pollution. It's a problem which affects hundreds across the country year-round, but more so during the carnival season.
00:08And while many are wont to point fingers at the Environmental Management Authority,
00:13the EMA is addressing the problem at its core, calling out the regional corporations and the TDPS.
00:20They have to get approval for a bar license, and that goes through a process at the magistrate's court.
00:31And therefore, the magistrates and the police need to ensure, before granting any license,
00:42that the establishment is in an area that is conducive to such activities.
00:52They cannot be allowing bars in areas that are primarily residential.
01:01The authority says patrons are not allowed to be on sidewalks, and music should not be loud enough to shake anyone's homes.
01:08If these establishments are properly established, and they take the right precautions,
01:16and they are playing music for their customers, and the music is within the establishment,
01:26you might hear the music on the sidewalk.
01:29The challenge is that these people decide that they want to play music not only for their customers and their establishment,
01:37they want to put the speakers on the sidewalk, and they want to be playing music for the whole village,
01:44and for everybody else on the road.
01:47That is unacceptable.
01:49And that's where the regional corporations come in.
01:52And the police, they need to start patrolling and telling people that they have no authority to be on the sidewalk.
01:59The EMA says it received over 500 noise complaints over the last three years.
02:05In 2022, when we came out of COVID, there were 246 noise complaints.
02:15In 2023, that reduced to 155 complaints.
02:21And in 2024, it went up again.
02:25Well, it was around the same amount in 2024. It was 152 complaints.
02:31But the authority says it does monitor noise levels at some events, for which permits are granted, and fine promoters accordingly.
02:39We can't do it all the time because the strength of our environmental police unit is just 11 officers in Trinidad and two or three officers in Tobago.
02:53So therefore, I mean, we cannot be at all the events, especially in a year like 2025, with a long carnival season, where there might be over 300 or 400 events.
03:05Meantime, the TTPS says it is meeting with carnival stakeholders on the matter,
03:10and they're inviting members of the public to call the police if they encounter noise issues.
03:15Having spoken to some of the stakeholders as well as some of the residents of the particular areas where carnival takes place,
03:21they complained about that to us as well.
03:23And we haven't spoken to the band leaders thus far.
03:26I have also told them about the decibel level.
03:29They are quite aware of it, as well as even the testing of these musical equipment just before juve starts.
03:36And we told them that there's a particular area that has been designated for that type of activities.
03:40And we hope that they would comply with them.
03:42As it relates to the other events that may be taking place in these areas,
03:48if they make a report to the police, we expect that TTPS officers would respond,
03:51at least go and speak with the promoters or even the DJ to have them turn on the music.
03:56Renessa Cutting, TV6 News.
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