Before launching a crackdown, police in the Mukono district of Uganda educated bar owners and managers about the risks of noise pollution. (Police educate nightclub owners about noise pollution)
The operation comes in response to a directive given to all territorial commanders in April by Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Tumusiime Katsigazi, the deputy inspector general of police, ordering a crackdown on people responsible for noise pollution across the nation.
ASP Joseph Ssentamu, the commander of the Kampala Metropolitan East Environment Unit, and Wilson Byamukama, the division’s chief, have disclosed that despite numerous warnings, they continue to receive a large number of complaints about noise pollution, particularly from residential areas, both during the day and at night.
Byamukama observes that in addition to the noise from pubs and churches, sound trucks also travel through muted areas like hospitals, courthouses, and schools in Mukono.
According to ASP Ssentamu, there has been enough discussion about the subject, and the only action remaining is to crack down on those who are still insistent.
We will put this into effect utilizing the National Environmental Management Authority’s noise rules to specifically address the numerous complaints from locals about polluting institutions, such as bars, churches, and private parties, stated ASP Ssentamu.
However, stakeholders continue to beg police to educate them about acceptable sound levels in addition to generating simple materials that violate NEMA rules rather than issuing what they believe to be the appropriate orders (stakeholders)
The manager of Pearl Resort in Mbalala Mukono, Joseph Musinguzi, claims that police sensitization efforts are still insufficient because they also lack a strategy that is appropriate for Mukono, particularly when it comes to identifying bars that are situated in industrial, business, residential, and medical areas.
Denis Ntege, the chairperson of the Mukono Bar Owners and Proprietors Association, is skeptical that the police action is intended to provide them more opportunities to be charged, as it was during lockdown.
He points out that as it is also in line with and simultaneously developing a comparable program of regulating sound levels, they should engage Mukono municipality for appropriate implementation of the program.
Erisa Mukasa Nkoyoyo, the municipal mayor of Mukono municipality, stated last month that they had purchased a sound level meter to help gauge the amount of noise produced in the community as part of their efforts to reduce noise pollution.
The National Environment (Noise Standards and Control) Regulations, 2003 state that the highest permissible noise levels are 45 decibels during the day and 35 decibels at night for any building used as a hospital, convalescence home, home for the elderly, sanatorium, conference rooms, public library, or environmental or recreational sites. (Police educate nightclub owners about noise pollution – celebrity jazz ug)
