The views expressed herein are solely those of the writer.
On no less than two occasions, Member of Parliament for the constituency of Marriaqua and Minister of Education, Hon. Phillip Jackson, has rightly asserted that loud and lewd music on public transport is ridiculous, unacceptable, and has no place in a modern society, and that his government intends to tackle the matter—an issue that many Vincentians have long agreed with and believe action needed to have been taken to correct it since yesterday. Yet, in Parliament, during the presentation of the 2026 budget, the Minister appeared to be giving mixed signals on the matter. His insistence that, for now, we must use ‘moral suasion’ is counterproductive and may delay decisive and impactful action. It is true that this matter correctly comes under the portfolio of the Minister responsible for Town and Country Planning, but there is absolutely nothing in law or parliamentary procedure that prevents the Minister of Education from piloting a bill to that effect, given that a significant section of our education sector—our precious children—is significantly affected and influenced by the poorly regulated and subversive van culture in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The truth is that this matter has been with us since I was a boy, but for 24 years the ULP administration did nothing of note to contain and manage this problem in our society. In fact, the issue deteriorated under their watchful eyes. I do not have the patience, therefore, to wait another 25 years—God forbid, I may not live that long or we may not recognize our society then. I have written, advocated on radio and TV, to no avail on this matter. It is time for action, Mr. Minister.
Excessive noise is always a nuisance. At basic, it causes what medical professionals refer to as Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL). At another level, there are known connections to serious medical issues resulting from overexposure to high levels of decibels (85 and over) over long periods. As I write, I do have options in whether to take the bus or not. But sometimes, I have no choice. But my heart screams for the babies, young children, and the elderly, in particular, because of their vulnerable physical state, which becomes more susceptible to excessive noise on public transport. Mr. Minister, how much more damage must our babies, children, and our elderly experience before we act?
Section 25 of the Noise Control Act No. 18 of 1988, with its various amendments (1989, 1992, 1996), categorically states that, ‘Excessive Noise [is] always objectionable and [is] always actionable.’ It went on to indicate that ‘Every person in St. Vincent and the Grenadines shall observe the basic principle that the making or continuance of EXCESSIVE NOISE shall be deemed to be against the public interest and shall be actionable under this Act or otherwise, and the granting of permission to any person under this Act to operate a loudspeaker or a musical instrument shall not be deemed to constitute any authorisation to such person to create or maintain a significantly higher volume of sound than it is reasonably necessary to satisfy the primary purpose for which such loud-speaker or musical instrument is being operated.’ The point here is that the law does recognise that a certain level of noise is inescapable and even tolerable in modern societies. And so, the Act makes provisions for exceptional cases such as times of elections, Carnival, street meetings and processions, and loud music emitting from shops and other commercial entities with permission.
However, while this is tolerable within the context of the law, it is highly unacceptable and disgusting to consistently put up with excessive noise emanating from private vehicles, minivans, neighbours, and those selling music on our street corners. In fact, the Act protects the individual from what it refers to as ‘NOISE AMOUNTING TO A NUISANCE’. We simply cannot continue to sustain high levels of noise in our society. It is not only unacceptable, but a considerable public health hazard.
I maintain that the Noise Control Act is reasonable and fair in its intent and purpose. Nonetheless, the legislation needs to be amended to make it relevant to the changes that have taken place in our society since 1996. However, like most Vincentians, I am weary of good legislation on the books that is not enforced by legitimate law enforcement and state authorities—in this case, our Police and the Town and Country Planning Board; at least not until they affect the political class or their interests.
The question I therefore want to ask you today is, why are our law enforcement and state agencies unable or unwilling to effectively enforce rules and regulations—essentially the law—when it comes to excessive noise? I offer two simple explanations. Firstly, we are simply unwilling to do so because noise seems to be everywhere we turn and therefore acceptable in our society. Well, whether it is religious or so-called secular music being played, excessively loud music is disgusting and obnoxious. In addition, it is a health hazard in our society, the consequences of which we will begin to see sooner rather than later.
Moreover, excessive noise, by law, is an infringement on people’s rights to peace and quiet. Secondly, our law enforcement authorities are unable or unwilling to deal with this health hazard and violation of our laws because they are under-resourced.
The Noise Control Act assumes that law enforcement agencies must be equipped with the requisite instruments (sound level meters—SLMs) to be able to determine the volume of noise over and above that which is reasonable and permissible. I am not aware that we have these instruments in place or have attempted to secure them for the purposes mentioned above. Like the implementation of the seat belt, which was met with some initial challenges but is now enforced and monitored, would the NDP administration take a more serious look at noise in our society and deal with it once and for all? I am counting on you to fix it, Mr. Minister.
By Ronnie Daniel
P.S. Revised (2026) commentary done on WE FM over 15 years ago.
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