St John’s Rural South residents address noise pollution complaints to members of government, including Prime Minister Gaston Browne and Attorney General Sir Steadroy Benjamin
Numerous residents from the St John’s Rural South community have raised serious complaints about the level of music from nearby bars which has been affecting their sleep and quality of life in the area, prompting commitments from elected officials to clamp down on the issue.
“There should be a cut-off time, but at 2:30am, there’s still noise coming in the area that’s affecting people’s sleep pattern,“ said one resident who spoke at the St John’s Rural South townhall meeting last night. “Mr Prime Minister, we need people with good mental health here. And if we have noise, you can’t sleep and the next day, you would be miserable on the job.”
Another resident who has two autistic children and is recovering from a surgery remarked that the noise normally starts on a weekend at 5 in the afternoon “until 12 o’clock, 3 o’clock in the morning.”
“That thing needs to stop because it’s a residential area, especially on a school night, which is like Sunday going into Monday morning,” she said.
The Attorney General Sir Steadroy Benjamin and Prime Minister Gaston Browne were swift to assure residents that law enforcement would be engaged to ensure bar owners and DJs adhere to the law and regulations.
“The AG [and I] will ensure that we get the police to address that issue but we ought to appeal to those who are running these establishments to be more empathetic to the residents understanding the need for them to have adequate rest and to confine or conform themselves to the laws of Antigua and Barbuda which requires them to turn down the music from 11 pm,“ the Prime Minister said.
These business needs to operate in a soundproof building.
Stop telling politicians about this matter ppl boarding up windows and live in prison in the houses they work and built for years, skirritte Pasture aka Spanish town, lower otter, Martin village, kentish road name a few, nothing done not going to do a thing for one little vote smdh
Why hasn’t there been an enforcement on a suitable timeline for running a bar with music in Antigua? Sleep is a necessity not an option
There are laws on the books regarding the level of noise coming from vehicles and this is not being addressed either. They drive through the community, sometimes at 2 – 3 am and playing all manner of vulgarity at a level where your houses shake. But this is not being addressed because many of them are PEPS (Politically Exposed Persons).
The funny thing is the bar owners know that the noise pollution is affecting people but they don’t care. You don’t need to have loud music for people to have a good time.
People want to hear themselves talk. I don’t think there should be any bars in residential areas
We chose to live in St John’s Rural South because it’s supposed to be residential. Let’s protect that. Entertainment has its place but so does rest.
How can anyone function properly when music is blasting until 2 and 3 in the morning? Some of us have to wake up at 5am for work. This is not a fete ground it’s a residential community.
School night and the music still pounding? Our children can’t sleep, can’t focus in class, and then teachers wonder why they’re tired. This is unfair to families.
When people want to sleep they going sleep. When they turn down the music level a next complain going come. Simple solution give them a cut off time them they going complain they have rent and not making the money so nobody will win this.
Oh my God, if they come to Martin Billage, it’s crazy from 8th to 2nd or 3rd, but the other day