BARBADIANS will not constitute a fully-developed nation until they restrain the use of sound amplification.
Currently, no one on this island is safe from offensive noise invading our homes, and this fact will severely reduce the growth of desirable tourism and the investment in business activities that require non-Barbadians to reside here.
Last Saturday, around 9 p.m., we heard the beginnings of a fete or party, which we assumed was in our neighbourhood of Keizer Hill and Enterprise Beach.
Our home is close to the Christ Church rectory.
However, as the sound continually became louder, I realised it was more than any of our modest neighbours might muster.
At about 11 p.m., I walked a quarter of a mile to the Bay Gardens at Oistins to see if extra-powerful loudspeakers had been set up for the Saturday entertainment there.
No, it was just the usual local exuberance that doesn’t blast beyond the commercial area. I explored by car, and discovered that Church Hill was jammed with the vehicles of partygoers trying to park close to the Foundation School.
I asked some of the well-dressed revellers what fete they were attending. “It’s a reunion,” they replied enthusiastically.
The road was impassable with reunionists, so I had to turn around to go home. By this time, the amplification was so loud that we could hear every word of the lyrics and announcements, and we live half-a-mile from the site of the party.
The vibrations caused by the excessively-amplified bass sounds penetrated the walls of our home, so that we could not sleep, even with the windows closed.
After midnight, it was obvious that even the Lord Himself was displeased with this abomination of noise on Sunday, for the heavens opened.
Sadly, such heavy rain could not stop the deluge of noise.
Was this really a “reunion” at Foundation School? What is the point of having a get-together of old school friends if the noise is so great that no one could carry on a conversation?
What sort of education did these people have? Did they learn anything about showing respect for one’s neighbours? Do they not teach physics at Foundation School?
Are they unaware of the power of amplified sound, especially the booming bass?
Barbados has huge potential to be a world leader as a developed society in which every citizen has the opportunity to rise from humble origins to greatness, but this potential will never be realised when events such as this irresponsibly-noisy fete continue to happen.
BOB VERDUN
