Filenews 24 June 2022 - by Vassos Vassiliou
"When the fine for causing noise pollution is €85 and I collect €1,500, it doesn't bother me if they report me and I don't care if you sleep or if you rest." The relevant report in which the situation created, even in residential areas, is so simply and cynically described, belongs to a premises owner, who wanted in this way to show how the system works.
The issue of noise pollution was also discussed yesterday before the House Standing Committee on the Interior and it is assumed that the current tourist season will roll with music in the diapause in several areas.
As is well known, a relevant legislation was adopted with the aim of eliminating noise pollution, which caused reactions and complaints not only from locals but also from foreign tourists, but was not fully implemented, with the result that the issue comes up again at times. It is worth noting that for the owners/ managers of mainly nightclubs there is a cost of adaptation, since as Mrs. Anastasia Kammenou mentioned on behalf of the Ministry of Interior, two sound counters (one inside and one outside) would have to be installed in each premises for a cost of about €7,000. But even if the owner/manager installed the counters, they were very easy to neutralize by simply placing a hood over the counter. In this way the recording would be altered and the noise pollution would appear limited at the time when the music could play at all its volume.
The messaging (audio) reception centre is very expensive and is not implemented in any country in the world, Ms Kammenou said.
From what the official of the Ministry of Interior mentioned above, it appears that some would sell hundreds if not thousands of sound-measuring machines, which could be easily used, and almost without cost, without solving the problem of noise pollution, while at the same time the protests and complaints about noise pollution would not end.
Another weak point of the counter is the fact that it records all the sounds and not only the sounds of the premises outside of which it is installed, so there was the possibility that in the centre where it is installed. they can emit music within the permissible limits but the counter will show that the sound is louder, regardless of whether it comes from opposite or next to it, etc.
However, the President of Parliament. The Committee on the Interior, before which the matter was discussed, observed that even without the counters, more or less everyone knows who causes noise pollution.
Representatives of the Ministry of Justice and the Police suggested that the Police should not be involved in the control of noise pollution but should be left to deal with other more serious crimes.
Representatives of centre owners expressed readiness to implement the legislation.
