Silence of the lambs

DONALD REDMOND

"NOISE POLLUTION is an issue that can no longer be ignored and it is having a devastating impact on human mental and physical health, as well as disrupting the methods urban animals use to communicate with each other."

That excerpt is from the latest United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report.

I trust that Dr Rowley is aware of these facts as he is a scientist, which he claimed to be in one of his recent speeches. So I have to ask our Prime Minister why is he and his government not addressing this scourge?

I also want to ask Rowley if as a scientist he is unaware of a well established principle of cause and effect, which suggests that things do not just happen, but are as a result of actions or lack thereof, along with other tangible contributory factors.

So, sir, when you posit that we are a violent society, you need to understand that something or things contributed to us being this way. And I want to suggest to you that among the reasons for this must be leadership failure, lack of proper law enforcement, a flawed judicial system, a failed education system, poorly managed institutions, and I can go on and on.

Mr Prime Minister, you are in your second term as leader of this country, you have been in active politics for over 30 years. You belong to a party that has held office for 50 years plus. Therefore it is my respectful view that everything that is wrong or right in this country today, you and your party are at least 70 per cent responsible for it.

It pains me that our brilliant political scientists, our criminologists, our sociologists and other learned commentators all seem unaware of this factual reality. I hope it is not a case of intellectual bankruptcy.

So please, Dr Rowley, stop trying to avoid culpability for our present condition. Of course there is crime in all countries of the world, but there are undeniable facts why this country's crime and murder rates are so high per capita, why crudity is widespread on our roadways, why littering is an art form, why jaywalking is a type of exercise, why praedial larceny is a fun night out, why corruption is so endemic, etc.

Nevertheless, let me return to noise pollution.

I trust that our newly minted Police Commissioner, our Minister of Education, our Minister of Health, our Attorney General, aka "the guardian of the public's interest," our Transport Commissioner, etc are also aware of this UNEP report, therefore you will all work together to address and alleviate the suffering of law-abiding citizens post-haste.

And please, folks, let's dispense with this nonsense about decibel meters, because we are all well aware that the road traffic laws are clear about "noisy instruments in vehicles" (what say you, Transport Commissioner?), and the public nuisance laws do not need an instrument to be enforced.

And I will expand on this point. I have read on a number of occasions where police officers would have arrested people for using "annoying language." Can anyone tell me how an officer makes a determination as to what constitutes "annoying language" while that same officer needs an instrument to determine a public nuisance, while he can clearly hear loud music emanating from a bar, at midnight, in a neighbourhood 25 metres away? Stop insulting our intelligence, people, and just do your jobs.

Anything less will cause those of us who are enlightened to form an opinion that you are all unfit for office.

I hereby call on the Attorney General to simply tweak this law to enable the police to warn, ticket and confiscate equipment. Three simple steps.

In conclusion, I need to express my dissatisfaction with so many of our pillars of society who have strangely not seen it fit to champion this cause.

Are our various business chambers not cognisant of the fact that employees who are unable to enjoy a good night's rest cannot be at their productive best in the workplace? Why hasn't there been any mention of this scourge from any of our human rights activists, who seem unaware that noise pollution is an assault on the very dignity of the quality of life of law-abiding citizens? Where are the voices of our medical practitioners (especially ENTs) on this matter, our religious leaders, our independent senators, people from Dretchi (Diagnostic Research Education Therapeutic Centre), etc?

Have we lost our moral and ethical fabric?