One of my favourite passages in Shakespeare is Caliban’s speech in The Tempest, a play I directed for MADC in 1984. It starts with the lines: “The isle is full of noises, sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not.”
The noises that fill the air in Malta are nothing like Caliban’s “sounds and sweet airs”. They are noises that cause discomfort and often reach a point where they become physically unbearable.
One major cause of noise pollution comes from what is euphemistically referred to as the ‘construction industry’, which has turned many parts of the island into permanent building sites. From the moment bulldozers move in to clear the land till the building is completed two or three years later, it is just one relentless process of digging, hammering, scraping, drilling and cement mixing, with dust flying all over the place and tipping bins and buckets swinging freely from cranes above streets and neighbouring houses.
Something really needs to be done to stop such flagrant abuse from causing havoc with people’s lives and making them wish they could go and live in another country. Before permits are issued for the demolition of old houses and the construction of blocks of flats in urban areas, the potential distress inflicted upon neighbours by the noise involved in the building process needs to be considered. It should form an integral part of any environment impact assessment, as much as the shape, size and quality of the building.
Environment officers should be employed not just to protect our urban and rural landscape from vandals and speculators, but also to control noise pollution wherever it comes from.
Economic prosperity can’t generate personal well-being in an environment where peace and quiet are entirely missing
Other causes of noise pollution include the hum of air conditioners in the middle of the night, festa petards being let off even at the crack of dawn, ghetto blasters on the beach, cars and motorbikes driving at breakneck speed and dogs left barking on roofs or in backyards by their owners for hours on end.
With all this going on, there doesn’t seem to be a single public space in Malta one can go to without being subjected to a constant barrage of noise.
When so much emphasis is being placed on the importance of preventive care where certain types of disease are concerned, one should not forget how harmful noise pollution can be to everybody’s physical and psychological well-being.
Magistrate Ian Farrugia, as reported in this paper (July 11), was expressing the feelings of many when he berated the authorities for turning a deaf ear to the complaints of residents in the St Julian’s area. His words bear repeating since they apply not just to noise pollution from entertainment establishments in that part of the island, but to the whole of Malta where laws regulating noise pollution are broken with impunity and basic citizen rights are trampled upon.
“Instead of taking swift and effective action as dictated by law,” the magistrate said, “many entities prefer to waste time on studies and reports, allowing the situation to deteriorate where the issue is dropped into the court’s lap.” He described this attitude as “a coward’s mentality” and appealed to the Prime Minister directly to get his ministers together to solve the problem.
There is an old Maltese saying that money can’t buy good health. By the same token, economic prosperity can’t generate personal well-being in an environment where peace and quiet are entirely missing. Our health authorities should raise awareness about the harmful effects of noise pollution, while those responsible for law and order should take all the necessary measures to curb abuse.
Joe Friggieri is professor of philosophy at the University of Malta.