Noise Pollution Concerns Raised After First Regulated Old Year’s Night
Trinidad and Tobago underwent its first Old Year’s Night under the new Fireworks Regulations, with a stipulated time to ignite their products between 11:30pm on Old Year’s Night and 12:30am on January 1st, New Year’s Day.
Despite reports of people sticking to the stipulated period to use their products, Citizens Against Noise Pollution in Trinidad and Tobago (CANPTT) reported that there are still those intent on breaking the law.
Minister of Land and Legal Affairs Saddam Hosein said from anecdotal reports, citizens did respect the new laws.
« There has been a large level of compliance with the current amendments that were passed by the government, but we still have those who decided that they will break the law. I think the Prime Minister was very clear in when she said that if you cannot adhere to the law, then we may have to, you know, do what we have to do as a government in order to bring that level of peace to the neighbourhoods. »
Speaking to TTT News, local veterinarian Dr. Mahfouz Aziz said the issue of noise pollution and fireworks goes far beyond animal welfare, calling it a « public health problem. »
« Not just the animals are affected by this. This is a public health problem that has to be addressed as a one medicine problem, both by the medical profession and the animal welfare and the veterinarians. This problem cannot be solved, say, just by the vets making noise or talking on TV or on the radio. We’ve been going through this year after year. »
Dr. Aziz explained that the day after fireworks, clinics often see a surge in injured and missing pets, but he warned that humans are also affected by the intense noise.
« That is fine because the spectrum of frequencies that they can hear is a little bit different from us. But believe you me, high-frequency sounds and high-decibel sounds and loud noises and so on affect animals very badly, and I think it affects people too. »
With the new regulations limiting fireworks to a one-hour window on stipulated days, the Public Relations Officer of the Citizens Against Noise Pollution, Vashish Maharaj, said compliance was mixed.
« There were other areas where they say that the noise was incessant. There’s a place in South, I believe, that it was kind of terrible. But there were those cases where they basically didn’t stay within the time frame, they just keep on going continuously. There were scratch bombs that were actually being exploded as well. »
He said CANPTT doesn’t believe there needs to be an outright ban on fireworks at this time, noting that changing with the times and enforcement are key.
« That there was a situation, I can’t remember if it’s in Charlieville or not, where the police did actually show up after a call was made, and the police did actually do due diligence so Chaguanas Police Station, we commend them greatly. »
Minister Hosein, however, said the prerogative rests with the Prime Minister whether to keep the current regulations in place or ban fireworks altogether.
« But again, there are one or two persons who may have decided to break the law. If the Prime Minister, in her wisdom, says, ‘Well, there’s a complete ban,’ well, then you have to face the consequences of your actions. The Prime Minister is very clear on that particular position. »
