Noise everywhere in Dar: Who will stop the hell?

Dar es Salaam. Noise pollution has become such a nuisance in Dar es Salaam that distressed residents are now calling on the authorities to stop the menace, which is reportedly affecting their mental and physical health.

The problem is so widespread in the city and other urban centres that it is gradually becoming a way of life, according to a survey by The Citizen on Sunday. Even more frustrating is the fact that there are no regulations to check noise and vibration levels, making it virtually impossible to enforce the law.

Noise pollution in residential areas--brought about by loud and pounding music in bars and shops, live promotional road shows, dance halls and cars--has subjected residents to distress beyond description. This state of affairs has also exposed them to serious health hazards.

Even more disturbing are reports that the mushrooming evangelical churches that hold services in residential areas are considered the main source of noise pollution in the city. According to the National Environment Management Council (NEMC), complaints to do with noise pollution coming from prayers, especially at night, top the list of complaints filed with the agency.

The churches reportedly use powerful public address systems during night prayers and disturb residents in the neighbourhood.

“We are still updating our data base, but one thing I can say for sure is that we are registering more complaints of noisy church services,” said Ms Glory Kombe, a senior environmental management officer at NEMC. “Sounds coming from churches exceed maximum permissible levels.”

The environmental watchdog has, in some cases, had to meet the leaders of the churches in an attempt to handle the problem in an amicable way. “It is quite challenging to deal with these churches because the problem touches on faith,” she added.

Live promotional road shows featuring pounding loud music have disrupted learning in schools, troubled patients in hospitals and disturbed workers in offices--and have generally become a harsh reality in many parts of the city.

The impunity people operating the shows and other forms of noise pollution enjoy has exposed serious weaknesses in the law and the authorities charged with checking noise pollution.

Night clubs operating in residential areas have subjected city dwellers to untold pain and frustration as they try to come to terms with the state of affairs. The Citizen on Sunday has established that noise pollution is unlikely to end any time soon since the government has not made public regulations to check noise and vibration levels.

It is understood that NEMC and the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) came up with the regulations some years back but, a decade after the enactment of the National Environment Act of 2004, they have yet to be released.

Section 6 of the Environment Act says it is an offence to emit noise without taking into account measures prescribed in regulations made by the relevant minister. The absence of these regulations means those who are giving city residents a hard time will continue to break the law with impunity because neither the police nor NEMC have the tools to enforce the law with any confidence. “We are very much aware of the magnitude of the problem,” says Dr Robert Ntakamulenga, the director of environmental compliance and enforcement at the NEMC.” But we can’t stop it because specific regulations to check noise levels have yet to be released.”

The regulations have been stuck for years in the office of the Minister of State in the Vice-President’s Office responsible for the environment. The office has to go through the final draft and hold the necessary consultations before publishing the regulations in the government’s Gazette. “We are receiving many complaints on noise pollution,” Dr Ntakamulenga adds. “We visit the problem areas and order a stop, but this method has not been particularly effective.”

The yet-to-be-released guidelines specify the role of NEMC, local government authorities and citizens in dealing with noise pollution. The regulations assign much of the responsibility of addressing the problem to local government authorities owing to their closeness to the people and the fact that they issue and supervise bar licences and music halls. The police cannot arrest people who causes noise pollution and courts cannot sentence them in the absence of specific laws.

The draft regulations have set the maximum permissible noise pollution in churches, mosques, nightclubs and bars, public rallies, public address systems, industrial machines and even promotional road shows.

City residents accuse municipal authorities of ignoring the problem and doing little or nothing to end the menace. Says Khalfan Mgesi, a resident of Mwananyamala Kisiwani in the city: “The noise is denying us sleep. Some families have sick relatives who cannot bear high levels of noise, but bar and club owners are untouchable. Local leaders are doing nothing to stop them disturbing us.”

Take the case of Yohana Chibunge, a diabetic who is being treated for heart complications. Sick and tired of two days of hard partying next door, he texted a friend to take him away from his home to escape the pounding noise. But Mr Chibunge, like many other city residents can do nothing beyond complaining about the lack of regulations.

Public health officials in Kinondoni municipality, which is notorious for noise pollution, declined to comment without the blessings of the municipal director. But they told our reporter it would be virtually impossible to end the problem since the issue is clouded by too much politics.

“You go to a garage which is in a residential area and causes noise pollution and order it to be closed, only to find that a local politician is protecting them,” one of the officers claimed. “The majority of those who stage vigodoro, if not all, have permission from their local leaders.”

Going on the defence, he protested that it is not that they are not doing anything but the problem is big and, to make matters worse, the culprits enjoy protection from local leaders.

Another stumbling block is the difficulties environment officers face in collecting watertight evidence, given that they have neither enough personnel nor equipment.

Although NEMC officials den such claims, The Citizen on Sunday has reliably learnt that the national environmental agency does not have a single meter to measure noise level.

The problem of noise pollution has been ignored for years. In January 2011, residents of Magore streets in Upanga in Dar es Salaam complained about being subjected to nights of loud music every Friday. The loud noises affected patients at Tumaini Hospital, which is in the neighbourhood. “Where is the sensitivity of the people organizing these events,” asked a local resident who declined to be named. According to some reports, some neighbours are now working on a petition demanding stronger laws and penalties for noise pollution.