Diana McCaulay
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NIGHT LIFE VS SOUND SLEEP

1/1/2018

10 Comments

 
1/1/2018
Over the holidays, I found myself in many conversations about what we euphemistically call night noise in Jamaica. I’ll get it out of the way immediately – yes, the discussants were uptowners. Often perennials. They located themselves in proximity to the source of the noise (to them)/the music (to promoters and patrons). Hope Gardens. Barbican Square. Red Hiils Road. 100. Ranny Williams Centre. Mas Camp. Devon House. Barbican Beach. Bob Marley Museum. Cru. Unknown sources. Churches. House parties. They compared the egregiousness of their experiences – ours STARTS at 2am. Ours goes on until sunrise. Ours is an all day thing, even on Sundays. Often I was pulled into these occasions for venting by strangers in a public place – the supermarket, the farmers’ market, the pharmacy, a craft fair.

I stand on the side of peace and quiet, because we live close to several of those places. We left our previous home because of noise.   
And here’s the problem: No matter how reasonable the party promoters. how infrequent their events, how slavishly the law about lock off times is adhered to (which it is NOT), how polite their notice to neighbours – there is a cumulative impact of noise at night in Kingston that is unacceptable. Today might be Ranny Williams, tomorrow Barbican Square. The next day Devon House. Hope Gardens the day after that. Where we now live, we can often go to sleep with the noise sufficiently muffled by distance but close to 4am, perhaps when the breeze changes, or perhaps just when a DJ gets hold of the mic, the music blasts us awake. Should we call the police? We have on occasion – and we know the result. IF the station has a vehicle, IF we can say with certainty the source of the noise, IF the event does not have a permit, the police will visit and the volume will be reduced for about half an hour but no more. If we don’t know the source, then what? Do we dress and drive around looking for it?

The Mayor of Kingston, His Worship, Mayor Delroy Williams (you can follow him @MayorWilliamsJA on Twitter) has brought much needed energy to his job, and on December 28th he tweeted: “Kingston earned in excess of 28M from Entertainment Permits alone in 2016. We have surpassed the figure earned in Dec 2016 by 12% so far this December.” We must support #Entertainment #NightEconomy #NightLife

https://twitter.com/MayorWilliamsJA/status/946531811949203457

“Not if it disturbs residents,” responded Yamfoot.

“Noise disturbs residents,” said the Mayor. “Not entertainment.”

This, it seems to me, is the crux of the matter. For some, perhaps for most, the music from formal and informal venues is entertainment, not noise. Economic activity. Part of a vibrant culture. Kingston has been declared a Creative City of Music by UNESCO – you people who want to sleep need to get on board. This is who we are. Night people. And we want our music LOUD.   

But adequate rest is vital for the human body and lack of sleep causes accidents on the road and at work, affects the ability of children to learn and increases the risks of a range of health problems including heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, depression, forgetfulness and weight gain. And this one: Diminished sex drive – surely that should be of concern? In short, lack of sleep is a public health issue.

It’s a problem of fairness too. Of respect. Of understanding that my right to music should not affect my neighbour’s right to sleep. It’s a lack of sensible city planning – when permission is given for bars and clubs with outdoor spaces to operate in the middle of residential areas. “Another Resident Without Sleep” pointed out in a letter to the Jamaica Observer that noise from Devon House affects the sick and dying at Andrews Memorial Hospital across the road.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/editorial/devon-house-noise-affects-the-sick-and-dying_121002?profile=0
 
There’s a solution, of course: indoor venues. But who will fund? What will that do to community type events and the price of tickets? Should there be restrictions on the number of party promoters, like taxi operators in big cities, because there’s a recognition that any geographical area can take only so many loud events?    

I reckon I was kept awake by entertainment for 15 nights in December and no single venue was the source. That’s too much to ask anyone to accept as being merely #NightLife.
         


10 Comments
John
1/1/2018 09:15:14 am

I simply dont like noise yet on demand from my wife I left peaceful Europe and cast myself into the mother of all noise Jamaica where even a normal conversation sounds like a top of the volume argument. Its not true about Europe of course because there is noise all over but why do we here make it such an art form. Mostly its the base that does it or the DJ who decides to inflict his/her pearls of wisdom onto an eager to hear audience. All it needs is a bit of better management and the understanding that good social behavior could bring. But thats another story of course

Reply
Diana McCaulay link
1/2/2018 05:13:03 am

Thanks for your comment John. We certainly are loud. I agree many aspects of Jamaican life need better management.

Reply
Yamfoot link
1/1/2018 11:08:37 am

The Act may need a review. Also the police need to acquaint themselves of its content. When we called, the first thing the officer said was "they have a permit." We had yo point out that there is a distance restriction.

Reply
Jeanette
1/1/2018 01:16:52 pm

Police have told me "they have permit" and of course not were expecting me to check. Took 3 weeks and the KSAC confirmed that all of 3 of the sources of the "entertainment" were not only not in possession of a permit but had NEVER even applied for such. So you tell me now on what grounds were the police making such an assertion. I leave you to speculate.

Reply
Diana McCaulay link
1/2/2018 05:14:58 am

Agree the police seem to not know the requirements of the law. I also don't think they have decibel meters. If we are to live in the close proximity of a city, we need to manage entertainment better.

Reply
John
1/2/2018 05:58:48 am

They dont need a meter Diana. Not sure if its yards or metres but its one hundred and if you can hear it its out of order. Trouble is the police have normally had a backhander

Jeanette
1/1/2018 01:27:26 pm

Diana Lord knows we need to have a consistent and concerted push about this. I am deeply disturbed by Mayor Williams' answer. Just as chilling as the one I got from the previous Mayor Brown-Burke. When told of the doctors who complained about lack of sleep and unable to perform, children who fall asleep at school, students who can't study, senior citizens whose ailments exacerbated by sleep deprivation, owners who can't keep a tennant and their loss of income etc etc - the response was "the businessman has an expectation". This was a recent business in a community with owners/residents going back some 40 years whose expectations did not matter.

I think the Mayor is shortsighted in this regard. Which of us would not want to see the coffers of the KSAC improve but he should ask himself how is this affecting the productivity of the many more and how that compounds to affect a number of other spending the Govt has to do.

I've read at least two international coverage about Kingston and Jamaica and noise nuisance. One spoke of Kingston being on the list of the noisiest cities and this one - see link http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-19636160 - speaks to the impact on our tourism. I've been overnighting in the Blue Mts and people fly all across the world to enjoy the peace and quiet via AirBnB and what did we find - can't sleep cuz dance a keep. So Mr Mayor the blinkers don't help the country, even if it's helping your Treasury.

MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY.

Reply
Diana McCaulay link
1/2/2018 05:18:00 am

Thanks for your comment Jeanette. I do think we are failing to understand the harm caused by noise pollution. What happened last night on the Palisadoes Road is also instructive - how can we tolerate the AIRPORT being effectively shut down by a party?? For the second year in a row, I understand.

Reply
Rosemary Pringle
1/1/2018 07:02:40 pm

I would like to know what all these party animals who are dancing until 4 am do for a living? Do they not have jobs to go to th next morning?

Reply
Diana McCaulay link
1/2/2018 05:19:07 am

Good question, RP! May very well be one reason for our generally low productivity..

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    Diana McCaulay

    INROADS: To go deeply into something, often something new, perhaps with disruptive intent; to look inward; to start anew

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