Noise pollution by contractors on the rise |22 June 2023

Mr Meme and Ms Gerry during the press conference (Photo: Joena Meme)

•          Environment department to clamp down on those violating their agreement

The department Environment has urged contractorsto respect their construction agreement especially related to their working hours.

This follows an increase in the number of noise complaints in different districts due to construction.

The department held a press conference yesterday at the Botanical Gardens where the director of the Environmental Assessment and Permit Section, Myron Meme and senior legal officer, Sharon Gerry, reiterated their call for the contractors to abide by their agreement.

Mr Meme said these noise complaints are recorded before and after normal working hours, which creates disturbance in residential areas.

“We encourage contractors and the general public to please respect the terms of the application they have submitted at the planning authority.”

He explained that most complaints on Mahé are in the northern region, mostly on Sundays and public holidays, which under normal circumstances is not permitted.

Normal construction working hours are from 8am to 4pm on Monday to Friday and 8am to 12pm on Saturday.

Mr Meme added there are exceptions made where hours of work are extended under special circumstances, however these require permission from the department.

Mr Meme also said that the Environment department will be taking severe action towards the contractors who are continuously disregarding the specifiedhours and will resort to the law if the need arises.

Ms Gerry explained that under the Environment Protection Act, contractors must follow the conditions set out and agreed to.

“These conditions, which include working hours, is a method to control noise that relates with these construction. These conditions must be respected as it forms part of authorisation given by the ministry,” she said.

She added that once any of these conditions are breached, actions will be taken.

“First we will approach the contractors in regards to the breach of conditions then if it is repeated, we will issue a notice and after that we would file a case against them for prosecution,” she explained.

She added they can also issue a work suspension notice where all work on the site will be stopped until there is guarantee there will be no breach of agreement.

“We have never done this before, but with the increase in cases of contractors breaking the working conditions, we think it is time to start issuing these notices,” she concluded.

Diane Larame