Dear Editor,
This is like ‘Have a Laugh, please.’ I am referring here to the “Police’s communication apparatus should be proactive” challenge thrown out by President Irfaan Ali. The Head of State issued this call to the Guyana Police Force, asking it to operate the Public Communications Unit in a manner that is proactive to relevant issues in the country. Now, I have tremendous appreciation for His Excellency, especially when it comes to his aggressive, yet unobtrusive style of leadership. However, he needs to accept the embarrassing reality that Guyana is suffering from an almost defunct police force. In support of my take, I will use just one scenario (even though the country has loads of areas I can bring up).
Now let’s go. I bring to mind a most symptomatic and well entrenched phenomenon, at times, legally endorsed by the Guyana Police Force, that is, the ‘noise nuisance’ culture in this land. The letter, “Soesdyke residents up in arms against “Chill Spot” for noise nuisance,” dated Mar 13, 2022 is a case in point. The details are that a group of residents are being totally ‘put-off’ because of Ron’s Chill Spot, a small business place, located at the Soesdyke Junction, on the East Bank of Demerara. This spot is wreaking havoc, redounding in sleepless nights. This “Ron’s Chill Spot” can be dubbed “All Over Guyana Chill Spot.” Noise is now a defining feature in this land. It has become the standard by which people elevate themselves. Rich young drivers, aspiring to emulate the Jamaican lingo, noise competition from boom boxes in cars, house revelries, minibus boom-boom and taxi chutney and rap etc. have overwhelmed the society.
Visit the majority of the radio stations, and it is predominantly a ‘shout out’ and ‘big-up’ with screaming ‘Jamaican imitators’ deejays’ shouting vacuities non-stop. Wedding houses run for a week, liming on the roadside and blasting music from car trunks are standards that have to be maintained. What is so terrible is that the police are sometimes a part of this mix. Calling them to intervene is now a silly thing to do. When I think of what the noise culture has become, I feel for the elderly, the sick, the babies and the students. With this culture of noise, even on the increase, Guyana is saying ‘to hell’ with listening to the news, studying at nights, having a family conversation etc.
I mean noise nuisance is so obvious and the police cannot handle, or, are not handling it. So why this talk about “… adopt a proactive approach in educating the public.” The crime is obvious. It cannot be hidden and the criminals have no fear in flouting. In fact, the buses and cars are so equipped with the noise-making gadgets that to talk about noise from vehicles without stripping them of these gadgets is to play the fool. It smacks of the ludicrous. I note that the President stated that “I wish to bring into focus, the Public Communication Unit of the Guyana Police Force. It should not be a reactive unit. It must be a proactive unit aimed at continuously educating the public, aimed at continuously positioning the work of the Force, bringing issues that are relevant to the execution of the mandate of the Police Force to the floor.” Like LOL. The force knows. I know. Everyone knows what are the rules being broken and who are doing the breaking, so, like I said, it is a big LOL.
Let me illustrate how noise is now law in Guyana and to report is to be endangered. In August last year, an innocent, law-abiding 60-year-old pandit, Rishi Bharrat, was beaten to death by a group of men, consuming alcohol in front of his lot 10 Grant 106 Crabwood Creek, Berbice property. This is now forgotten history. This incident took place around 02:15 hours when Bharrat confronted the drunken men to remove from in front his premises. People are actually saying the pandit was stupid. Well, he tried earlier to get police help, and I guess the police needed to safeguard themselves and with good reason too, as was noted in the press a few days earlier. I refer here to the Parika, East Bank Essequibo family who assaulted police ranks who responded to a noise nuisance report – this incident occurred between 21:00hrs and 21:30hrs.
Now, I will not belabour the point. From observation, I have to posit that noise-nuisance is legal and is fully fostered by the government and the police force. In closing, let me add that speeding, beating the traffic lights, illegal manoeuvres, parking to block traffic etc. are all ‘right’ and are fully encouraged and endorsed. President Ali needs to do a ‘reality check.’
Sincerely,
P. Mann
