Betrayed: New Kingston Residents Under Threat

In an amazingly insensitive presentation on the vexed issue of Noise Abatement, Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports Hon. Olivia “Babsy” Grange, recently delivered her maiden contribution to the Sectoral Debate 2008/09 in Gordon House entitled “Defining Ourselves”. In the presentation, the Minister conveniently ignored the persistent complaints of citizens and residents of residential communities about Night Noises, obviously skewing her remarks to the benefit of errant entertainment promoters and in fact politely chided the Police for enforcing the tenets of the Noise Abatement Act, claiming that commerce was being stymied by such enforcement. The Minister further intimated, that specially designated Entertainment Zones are to be established and that such zones and the associated regulations to govern their operations are being developed for approval by the Cabinet of Jamaica, albeit with no reference to the wider citizenry. The residents of New Kingston in particular, have been complaining bitterly about the issue of Night Noises for years. However, given the preponderance of illegitimate open air entertainment activities which affect the community and based on the obvious predisposition of Minister Grange, there is a strong likelihood that the entire community will be designated an Entertainment Zone, placing it under direct threat. The following represents the verbatim presentation of this aspect of the Ministers presentation on Tuesday, June 17, 2008:

"Mr Speaker, the recent stringent enforcement of the night noise act by the police has created a number of unintended socio-economic consequences:

(a)Commerce is being stymied – tailors, hairdressers, vendors, concessionaires, performers, suppliers of products (food, drink, containers, ice, confectionary) and promoters are all losing significant income. The multiplier effect of this loss of income will be significant.

(b)We need to recognize that for many in this chain, their main or only source of income, is under threat. They will have no option but to resort to alternate means of earning which can lead directly to an increase in crime and vagrancy.

(c)Dances, parties and other forms of entertainment are the only release for many who find life hard. As such, events collectively are the valve on the pressure cooker that is our society.

(d)For many, attending dances and parties is what keeps them away from a life of crime, mischief and idleness.

(e) We must recognize that anything that affects the entertainment industry, directly affects the tourism industry and by extension the nations survival. Every year hundreds of thousands of tourists come to our shores and spend much needed hard currency to experience our culture and music. Do we want to put a stop to this?

(f)In addition, there has been increased resentment against the police, which hinders them in carrying out their duties effectively.

Against this background, we need to look on the situation realistically to not throw out the baby with the bathwater, but create a situation where there is greater order without stifling the entertainment industry.

Like everywhere else in the modern world we have to find ways to make our existing infrastructure work harder around the clock and earn more to the betterment of all. This is why there are cities that “don’t sleep” like New York, Chicago, Miami, London, Las Vegas, Japan, Toronto and more. This is achieved by creating Entertainment Zones. In parallel, it is important to have zones that do not generally support “night noise activities” like suburban neighborhoods.

The key to an entertainment zone policy working is recognizing that a balance needs to be struck between certain rights and needs of citizens for peace and quiet, as well as the rights and needs for entertainment. It is also important that respect for “peace and quiet” should not apply just to entertainment promoters, but also churches and other groups which have events. With this in mind there have to be areas where formal entertainment activities are allowed and sanctioned and others where they are not.

At the centre of consideration for an entertainment zone, is the extent of noise and the nature of the environment surrounding the source of the noise. Of greatest concern then, are open air events from which sound travels to disturb nearby residents that do not wish to hear what is happening at the event. It is particularly important to ensure children are not disturbed on the eve of school days.

In addition to noise disturbance, content is also important. In general terms open air events with significant noise factor should not feature profanity, the promotion of violence and explicit sexual description. Of course this would not apply to closed venues, which do not impact on people outside of the venue.

Based on the relatively compact nature of communities in the island we will have to embark on a tiered zone approach with respect to open air events, which features zones with:

No restrictions
Some restrictions
Complete restriction of activities

Details of the demarcation of zones and associated regulations are currently being developed for decision by Cabinet and eventual adoption by the relevant authorities".

Zero Tolerance for Populist Posturing Mr. Commissioner!

"The matter of night noise is distressing not to just me personally, but to those people who have to suffer underneath it and we have to put a stop to it." That was the word from Commissioner of Police Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin, on Friday March 28 2008, as he gave warning that the police would thereafter be applying a zero tolerance approach to breaches of the Noise Abatement Act. However a scant six weeks later the police have reportedly given consent to Summerfest Productions promoters of Reggae Sumfest for the reggae festival to go beyond the prescribed 2 am cutoff point for outdoor music activity which had received the requisite permits from the Jamaica Constabulary Force and in keeping with the tenets of the Noise Abatement Act.

Indeed according to Robert Russell Chairman of Summerfest Promotions, the July 13 – 19 event has been afforded special privileges by being designated a “national festival.” Needless to say, the designation of “national festival” or any special privileges that accord to such a designation is not found in the Noise Abatement Act. In fact according to the Gleaner, Russell states “We have been designated a national festival. That consideration is because of the number of foreign visitors we attract. That is about 5,000 visitors and US$5 million in revenue. So we have been afforded the privilege of going later than 2 am. We will close the festival at the normal times,” he said. However, it is well known that the normal times for the closing of such festivals are usually around 7 or 8 am.

Further, if this designation is valid is it available to Sting, East Fest, Heineken Startime and the countless other large music festivals that occur in Jamaica from time to time? Further if the law is to be selectively interpreted on the basis of the quantum of persons attending and potential revenue flows, then why not similar consideration for all and sundry. In other words, in granting this music festival exemption from the law, the Commissioner and his team have succeeded in completely undermining the tenets of the Noise Abatement Act, dashing the hopes, dreams and confidence being reposed in him regarding the enforcement of the Noise Abatement Act by a victimized populace and has also heralded an era of arbitrary law enforcement and governance which has no place in a modern democracy.

In other jurisdictions notably London in the United Kingdom and Atlanta in the USA, the cutoff time for outdoor concerts is 11 pm and in fact a similar cutoff time also affects the popular Radio City Musical Hall in New York. Interestingly, venues such as Hyde Park in London routinely accommodate crowds of 50-thousand persons and more but rigidly adhere to the 11 pm stipulation. In Jamaica, the law is far more liberal with allowances being afforded up to 2 am on weekends, however the Commissioner and his team have basically disregarded the law because according to Reggae Sumfest “we have been designated a national festival,” and will allow this concert to go on until it comes to a natural end. Whereas Reggae Sumfest is occurring in Montego Bay, the lessons emanating from this new JCF posture has national implications. Hence for the people of New Kingston and surrounding areas, they must continue to endure in dignified silence while being buffeted every weekend by Noise Pollution emanating from many nearby sources while the Commissioner apparently panders to the media but reverses his posture once the lights go out. The law in Jamaica is truly not a shackle, but merely a state approved mechanism to facilitate the errant behaviour of a connected few.

See Also

Know the Law: The Noise Abatement Act

What Price for Development in Jamaica

It is indeed ironic, that the Jamaican society is now seized with the notion of facilitating accelerating development, but the strategy is opportunistic at best. in so far as it ignores all requisite control mechanisms, which would afford these developments a degree of sustainability over the medium to long term. Indeed, some the immediate challenges being faced by the citizenry are dust pollution, noise pollution and flawed urban planning compounded by an increasingly aloof and arrogant state mechanism. However, the difficulties described are already covered in most part by varying laws but there is almost no enforcement or such enforcement is so selective, as to be deemed arbitrary.

This has led to a loss of legitimacy for the state apparatus, which is supposed to police the named categories. For example, with the boom in construction activity in Seymour Lands (Golden Triangle) there is no effective dust pollution control mechanism. Hence, the air quality in the community has deteriorated substantially over the past few years and despite persistent appeals to the regulatory agencies, nothing is done. Similarly, the Chairman of the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC) and Mayor, Senator Desmond McKenzie, indicated earlier this year that a zero tolerance approach would be taken regarding the storage of construction materials on the sidewalks and roadways. No action has been taken. Indeed at one particular construction site in the Golden Triangle, the contractor has from inception not only stored his material on the sidewalks near to the project but routinely stored excess materials on the sidewalks of nearby roads. However, in this regard the KSAC inexplicably remains impotent.

Similarly, the residents of Seymour Lands, Trafalgar Park and the residential sections of New Kingston are all affected by night noises and the failure of the police to enforce the Noise Abatement Act. While the new Commissioner of Police Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin, has expressed an intention to treat with breaches, the fact that approval was recently given to J’ouvert celebrants to commence their road march and party activities at 2 am, militates against any particular expectations that the status quo will change. However, in the interim, in some of the high priced gated communities, persons are only allowed to sleep at the absolute discretion of the party promoters and club operators as to when they chose to terminate their nocturnal activities.

Equally, residents in the Kensington Avenue area in New Kingston have been afflicted by helicopter landings and departures from the nearby Mutual Life Centre. Though appeals have been made to the Civil Aviation Authority (to effect a change to the approved flight plans so as to minimize impact) nothing has been done. This situation is such though that roofing tiles in some of the apartment complexes have been falling out, given the vibrations from the low-flying helicopter.

Further, the State apparatus has given approval for the operations of at least one sensuous massage parlour and that particular activity is expanding considerably in the named communities above. Repeated complaints have been made to the relevant authorities and mistakes acknowledged, yet absolutely no remedial action has been taken. There has no been no activity seeking to prevent the operations of the newer facilities either.

Similarly, density ratios and setback distances have been unilaterally altered which ensures that any new multi-storey dwelling automatically will overshadow and overlook its immediate neighbours, creating a loss of value among other ills. Further, in all cases there is no provision made for additional water to be piped into the communities yet additional developments are approved routinely. Developers are also required to post signage regarding their proposed developments. In most cases this is completely ignored, as is the fact that the restrictive covenants in the majority of cases need to be modified or discharged prior to construction. These activities occur routinely after the fact.

Hence for Jamaica’s development to be sustained there is need for the introduction and enforcement of order. The KSAC, NEPA and the Police have all failed in the effective discharge of their duties so far. There is therefore an urgent need for a new approach to development to be adopted, as the current mechanisms which pits citizen against developer and the state is not tenable and will only serve to undermine true progress and stymie sustainable development. The law may well be a tool of social engineering, but failure to adhere to its tenets will lead to the unraveling of the very fabric of the Jamaican society.

Commish Turns Attention to Night Noises

After decades of complaints, the citizens of many urban centres in Jamaica are now boasting new hope regarding the vexed issue of night noises. This renewed hope is founded on the reported assurances provided by newly appointed Commissioner of Police Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin that he will be receiving recommendations by Friday April 4, 2008, with a view to dealing with the issue of night noise and the enforcement of the Noise Abatement Act. Speaking on Monday, March 31 2008, at the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) monthly press conference, the Commissioner is reported in the Gleaner as saying that "The matter of night noise is distressing not to just me personally, but to those people who have to suffer underneath it and we have to put a stop to it…..Clearly, we have to do a lot more than we have been doing now and change the way we have been doing it, and we are going to use means available to us." The Commissioner also indicated that the recommendations would look at the permitting and the policing of night events.

This is particularly comforting for the residents of Seymour Lands, Trafalgar Park and the residential sections of New Kingston which have been afflicted by Night Noises for a number of years and been further frustrated by the inability / unwillingness of the JCF to enforce the Night Noises Act (1997). A classic example of the casual disregard that the law has been treated with is the annual J’ouvert celebrations, inclusive of a road march, which commences at or about 2 am. However Section 3 of the Noise Abatement Act 1997 also colloquially referred to as the Night Noises Act, states that no person shall, on any private premises or in any public place at any time of day or night-

(a) sing, or sound or play upon any musical or noisy instrument; or
(b) operate, or permit or cause to be operated, any loudspeaker, microphone or any other device for the amplification of sound;

in such a manner that the sound is audible beyond a distance of one hundred metres (328.1 feet) from the source of such sound and is reasonably capable of causing annoyance to persons in the vicinity so, however, that where during the period specified in subsection (4) such sound is audible beyond that distance in the vicinity of any dwelling house, hospital, nursing home, infirmary, hotel or guest house, such sound shall be presumed to cause annoyance to persons in that vicinity.

Subsection (4) of the Noise Abatement Act specifically refers to that time interval between:

(a) 2 0’clock and 6 o’clock in the morning on a Saturday or Sunday; and
(b) Midnight on a Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday and 6 o'clock in the following morning.

Hence, if these celebrations had indeed received the requisite permits prescribed under the law from the Police, such permits would have been granted in contravention of the Noise Abatement Act (1997). Therefore for the Commissioner’s new thrust to tackle night noises to have the requisite effect, cognizance must be taken of the actual tenets of the law and control mechanisms instituted so that the JCF itself is not held to be complicit in the facilitation of any potential breaches.

Whereas, due deference must be given to the citizen’s right to entertainment, there is need for order in the pursuit of such enjoyment and it is in that regard that the Commissioner’s interventions must be viewed. The residents, particularly in residential sections of New Kingston, are being buffeted by frequent street dances and by Stage Presentations at Mas Camp on Oxford Road and other places of entertainment with no attempt being made to modulate the sound, much to their discomfort. Not to be outdone the residents of Seymour Lands and Trafalgar Park are equally affected by Night Noises.

In fairness, the personnel at the New Kingston Police Post led by ASP Cameron has exhibited intolerance to the flagrant breaches of the Noise Abatement Law in that particular area but it is clear that there is an insufficiency of personnel to treat with this matter, as well as matters of jurisdictional encroachment, which tend to stymie the efforts. Order is a necessary condition for the development of any society and therefore citizens in affected communities are looking to the JCF yet again, in hope that this initiative to treat with night noises will be successful.

See Also
Know the Law: The Noise Abatement Act

Crime, Fear and the Jamaican Private Security Firm

WARNING: Some of the images in the above are graphic and hence discretion is advised

Several Jamaican residential communities have now turned to the private security industry to provide auxiliary security support in the face on a protracted crime surge and the island being bestowed with the moniker “Murder Capital of the World”- consequent on having the highest per capita murder rate. In this regard, the communities of Seymour Lands, Trafalgar Park and the residential sections of New Kingston are not exceptions, with an estimated 50 – 60 percent of all homes being involved in some formal arrangement with one of the private security firms or an informal arrangement with individuals to provide services. However, perversely, the continued success of the private security industry in these communities and the wider Jamaican society is predicated on the continued instability of the society. For its part, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) is perceived as being understaffed and under-funded and in need of support in an effort to meet the challenges of today’s crime-ridden society.

In fact, householders are paying substantial sums of money not only to have private guards patrol their communities, gated or otherwise, but they have also invested heavily in panic buttons and other alarm systems. Further some gated communities who are unable to afford the private security fees have decided to engage the services of “gatemen” who are paid at the level of security guards and which provide de facto security services where necessary. There are also communities who have or are seeking to implement neighbourhood watches – where groups of citizens patrol their respective communities and develop their own early alert mechanism in the event any potential criminal activity is determined.

However it should be noted that the communities of Seymour Lands, Trafalgar Park and the residential sections of New Kingston are served by the Matildas Corner and Half Way Tree Police Stations, with additional support being available through the New Kingston Police Post. Nevertheless, the citizenry perceives that they require the private security services. This is guided by the fact that the police have been unable to control the incidents of house breaking and larceny, armed robbery, petty thefts, drug pushing, street prostitution and the proliferation of sensuous massage parlours which obtain in the communities. Further, the response times from the private security entities are considerably faster, routinely ranging from 3 to 5 minutes whereas in the case of the Police, the responses can range from as low as 3 minutes to hours or non-arrival. This is not aided by the inordinate delays in the answering of the 119 emergency numbers on occasion. Nevertheless, presuming the accuracy of recent claims that the major crimes are trending down, it remains unclear whether there has been a concomitant increase in arrests and indeed if the improved statistics can be attributed to more efficient policing or to the involvement of the private security entities. Indeed, the impact of the JCF is further undermined by their inability / unwillingness to enforce the Noise Abatement Act (1997), which leaves many residential communities feeling vulnerable and turning to private services.

Whereas it is clear that auxiliary services, such as the private security firms can never replace the Jamaica Constabulary Force, there is an obvious need for increased personnel. As at March 2006, there were some 12, 891 security guards relative to 8, 100 members of the police force (out of an establishment figure of 8,500). There is also the obvious but chronic shortage of equipment facing the JCF relative to the private security industry. As one homeowner laments “When we were growing up, the police would routinely conduct neighbourhood patrols and would on occasion stop and check on individual dwellings (particularly the elderly) to see if they had any particular concerns about their security. Those days are long gone but then in a country where an $80 million price tag for a motor car is deemed “reasonable” can we be surprised?”

See Also
The Case Against Mixed-Use Developments Part 1

Animal Farm: The New Jamaican Constitution?

The Orwellian maxim that “all men are created equal but some are created more equal than others” seems to have become the watchwords of the National Works Agency and the Police force in Jamaica. This, as the authorities have unilaterally decided to route the road march from the Carnival celebrations slated for Sunday, March 30, 2008, through the residential community of Seymour Lands. This has proven to be particularly irksome to the residents living on or in close proximity to Upper Musgrave Avenue, Argyle Road and Musgrave Avenue as it was mutually agreed from 2006 with the Jamaica Constabulary Force that the celebrants would continue their activities along the Lady Musgrave Road (main road) which would lengthen their journey by only a few metres and avoid disturbing the residential areas. In fact, the agreed route of 2006 was followed in 2007 with nary a peep from residents.

The decision of the authorities to allow for this particular march route now places the revelers and the attendant mind numbing sounds, in very close proximity to two homes for the aged, a number of multi-storey apartment and townhouse complexes as well as several single family dwellings. Aside from this being a flagrant breach of the Noise Abatement Act, the fact that it has actually received state approval with absolutely no reference to the citizenry remains baffling and smacks of autocracy. This is likely to be compounded by hundreds of revelers and vehicles traversing Argyle Road, which is already in an advanced state of disrepair, where the surface is largely non-existent and the road has already collapsed on a few occasions. Further the attendant and totally predictable dust nuisance from that source should surely have been a cause for concern. Indeed it is instructive note that Hopefield Avenue, Upper Musgrave Avenue, Argyle Road and Musgrave Avenue have all collapsed several times in the recent past, given poor rehabilitation works, after the laying of sewer mains and are likely to undergo their greatest test on Sunday. This has already led to a public apology from the National Water Commission and raises a question about the degree of effective communication between the State agencies.

However, this issue really highlights the difficulties that residents of the Seymour Lands (Golden Triangle), Trafalgar Park and the residential sections of New Kingston are routinely faced with. Lack of effective consultation, arbitrary governance and myopic urban planning can safely characterize the experiences of the listed communities and rubbishes the claims regarding the so-called processes of consultation. Further, cognizance must be taken of the fact, that these are the same areas that the Government of Jamaica is seemingly working assiduously to commercialize and convert into urban ghettos and it’s the private developers who have been rescuing the communities from the clutches of opportunistic governance.

Update

Subsequent to the publication of this article, there was a last-minute change of route to bypass the residential communities in Seymour Lands, confining the road march activities to the main roads as obtained in previous years.

See Also:

Know the Law: Noisy Nights No More