Entertainment Zoning to Address ‘Night Noise’ Concerns

The Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment is seeking to address the concerns surrounding the Noise Abatement Act, and entertainment zoning, by establishing designated areas, beginning with three parishes.

Making the disclosure at a post-Sectoral Debate press briefing at Jamaica House, on Wednesday, July 3, State Minister for Tourism and Entertainment, Hon. Damion Crawford, explained that four zones (A-D) are being identified.

Zones B and C will be initially established in the parishes of Kingston, St. Andrew, and St. Catherine.

He told the press that research has found that 67 per cent of events are not advertised or have booked venues, and were mainly “street” dances, which would not benefit from being moved far away from the communities staging them.

“So, looking at a Ray Town Sunday (in Kingston), for example, and moving a zone all the way over to Caymanas (St. Catherine) would not benefit that event, or that community…We therefore engaged sound experts and Geographic Information System (GIS) operators, to identify how we would zone the entire country,” he explained.

Emerging from that process are: Zone A, which is close to hospitals; B zones, which are highly residential; C zones, which are commercial areas; and D zones, which are 24-hour areas.

“This is a matter of impatient resolution…initiatives to strike a reasonable balance between these crucial needs are being examined,” Mr. Crawford told the House of Representatives in his 2013/14 Sectoral Debate presentation on July 2.

Contact: Alphea Saunders