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by pltm
(PLTM) - Third District Representative and Opposition Member, Hon. Julian Fraser has referred to construction work being carried out on Sundays in residential neighbourhoods as a noise nuisance. He has called on the Attorney General (AG) to look at the Noise Abatement Act.
Under the heading of law reform, Hon. Fraser while speaking under the Private Members Business section of the continued House of Assembly sitting on September 2, said that dealing with the noise of construction on a Sunday should not be a norm.
In calling on the AG to look into the matter from a legal perspective, Hon. Fraser said, “The Noise Abatement Act, we’ve been careful in making sure that people can’t have loud music and other noise beyond a certain time at night; but what about this nuisance that we have called construction on Sundays in neighbourhoods where people live.”
“I know we put up with it, we tolerate it Monday through Fridays, even Saturdays and into the nights, but when Sunday comes...Members of this Hon. House need to take a careful look at how our people treat their neighbours and what’s good and right in that regard. So, AG the Noise Abatement Act, we need to take a good look at that,” Hon. Fraser stated.
Noise Abatement Act Review Lamented
Hon. Fraser’s request on Monday for the Noise Abatement Act to be reviewed adds to the voices of many over the last 10 years on the same request. The most noted push to stop what is noise pollution or nuisance was made by former Complaints Commissioner (Ombudsman), Elton Georges in a report titled “For Peace Sake.”
However, nothing much became of the call. In fact, an update was provided to the House of Assembly last year in the Eighth Annual Report from the Office of the Complaints Commission that was prepared by current Complaints Commissioner, Sheila Brathwaite, and laid on the table of the October 11 sitting of the House of Assembly.
In her report under the Own Motion Investigations section, Complaints Commissioner Brathwaite stated that some of the recommendations that were noted in the “For Peace Sake” investigation that was done by former Complaints Commissioner Elton Georges in 2015 are still in limbo.
She stated: “For Peace’ Sake” was an OMI completed in 2015, however the recommendations are still ongoing. The first recommendation to establish a Noise Policy with a view to revising the Noise Control and Abatement Act, 1996...will be looked at in earnest during the 2017 legislation agenda cycle according to Ministry of Health and Social Development.”
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