THERE can be absolutely no doubt that the majority of those who commute on a daily basis on mini-buses, perhaps several times a day will welcome action by the authorities to put a firm stop to the use of noisy musical equipment on this means of public transportation used by the majority of citizens.

It is not always possible for commuters to demand that the music be turned down or off, especially as this is usually their only means of transportation besides walking, and they sometimes risk being insulted or even threatened with being put off the bus.

It has been scientifically proven that continuous exposure to loud noise or music is very harmful to our health and causes damage to our eardrums with resultant loss of hearing or reduced capacity to hear. Besides the loud music from these boom-boom boxes another obnoxious practice is the type of music, which is played by some, that is music and songs with expletives and other obscenities, which are offensive to most people and harmful to children.

The majority of the commuters each day, several times a day are school children and they are thus not only subjected to the damage caused by the loud music but to the constant use of obscenities in the songs played on some of these buses.

But we must not only deal with those recalcitrant bus drivers and conductors who indulge in these harmful activities, we must also deal with noise nuisance on the whole, as noise is a form of environmental pollution.

I am talking here about those people especially some nightclub owners, and others who play very loud music day and night sometimes at ungodly hours disturbing the rest and peaceful enjoyment of those living nearby.

Some say they have been complaining for years to the relevant authorities and this apparently is happening not only in the city but also in many other areas throughout the country.

This is the time when we are dealing with the menace of the boom-boom boxes on the mini-buses to effectively deal with noise nuisance and noise pollution wherever it may occur.
Joseph Sankat