‘Ghettoising’ a residential area

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Thank you for granting me space to highlight a concern among some residents of Cornwall Court in St James. The community of Cornwall Court is presumably the largest housing scheme in western Jamaica developed by the National Housing Trust (NHT).

Cornwall Court (Green Pond Phase 1) consists of serviced lots, studio and two-bedroom units, the studios are built in quads, meaning, four studios are attached. Homeowners have the right to design their homes as they so desire under the guidelines of the building code of Jamaica. But when you consider a strata setting, then some consideration has to be factored in due to the nature of either sharing a common wall or space.

This lends itself to the question as to why would the relevant authorities grant permission for a bar/club to be built on top of one of these quads? Being fully aware of the close proximity of other houses.

Sound is a type of energy produced by vibrations, therefore the basic science stipulates that music is based by vibration of sound waves. The owners and operators of this bar/club at the top of a four-storey building plays music sometimes until the wee hours of the morning throughout the week, disrupting the once peaceful surroundings, especially at nights.

Majority of the residents/homeowners are employed and venture out to work during the days, hence it is only logical that you get some rest at nights. However, this is not the case as music can be heard blaring until 1 a.m., hence resulting in adverse effects to our physical well-being.

I am suggesting that the St James Parish Council and the Area 1 Police review this operation as Jamaica’s Noise Abatement Act of 1997 places restriction on the amplification of sound from private premises at any time of day or night causing annoyance to persons in the vicinity.

I am cognisant that this is not a concern for only residents of Cornwall Court but several pockets of communities in Jamaica. Being neighbourly is not a difficult task and one just has to consider if the shoe was on the other foot, would this behaviour be tolerable?

The good old adage states, “todeh fi mi, tomorrow fi yuh”.

Let us seek to make our communities more peaceful and safe while we all continue to work to make Jamaica a better place to live, work and raise our children.

PATRICK CHAMBERS

Concerned Citizen