Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1472871
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 JULY 2022 OPINION 10 Raphael Vassallo OPINION Maltese developers, complaining about noise. Whatever next? YOU can say what you like about Kar- ma. You can call her a 'bitch'; a 'chame- leon'; or any insult under the sun. But still, you've got to hand it to her: when Karma strikes… she sure does it with style. Consider, for instance, the following story uploaded on this portal yesterday (Friday). 'Wardija villa owner Sandro Chetcuti complains of noise from Bid- nija shooting range'. In case the irony in that headline wasn't already glaring enough, the sto- ry continues: "A group of villa owners in Wardija, amongst them the former president of the Malta Developers As- sociation, have been refused a warrant of prohibitory injunction to stop a near- by shooting range from operating, cit- ing excessive noise levels." And OK: Sandro Chetcuti was not the only 'Wardija villa owner' to file court proceedings against the Malta Shooting Sport Federation. Nor were all the oth- ers involved in the construction indus- try (indeed, only one other Maltese de- veloper – Francis Gauci – was actually named in the article). All the same, however: we are talking about Sandro Chetcuti here. In other words, the man who represented Mal- ta's entire construction industry for all those years – during which he defended it tooth and nail, from complaints that included (but were certainly not limited to) 'noise pollution'. He is also the former MDA chairman who once famously likened the Labour and Nationalist parties to "two big 'shops', giving them [developers] the opportunity to choose 'from whom to buy' the best policies"; not to mention that one time, when he was heard urg- ing MDA members to "make hay while the sun shines" [Translation: 'Build as much as you can possibly get away with today, for the good times won't last for- ever…'] And, well, just look at him now: com- plaining about… 'noise pollution', of all unearthly things. You know: precisely the same sort of inconvenience that his own industry has been busy inflicting upon local residential communities, for decades. I mean, honestly. What's it going to be next? Quentin Tarantino, complaining about 'violence in film'? Snoop Doggy Dogg, objecting to 'misogynistic lyrics in rap music'? Wait, I know: how about Cheech and Chong, complaining about the 'smell of weed'…? Because it really doesn't get more deli- ciously ironic than 'Maltese developers complaining about noise', does it? Oh, wait: maybe it does… Let's read some more, shall we? We are also told that "the noise generated by the range was causing [the villa-own- ers] to suffer inconvenience and 'grave molestation' [sic], they said, because shooting took place 'from sunrise to sunset' including weekends and public holidays." Erm… you mean, exactly like all the jack-hammers, Himac diggers, drills, bulldozers, cement-mixers, ce- ment-cutters, electric saws, etc., that can be heard in practically every town and village across Malta and Gozo, on any day of the week: incessantly, 'from sunrise to sunset' (including 'weekends and public holidays', too)? But even that's not all: for the same ar- ticle goes on to state that: "the plaintiffs exhibited a report drawn up by an engi- neer they had engaged for this purpose, which […] detected average noise levels of 60db – 5 decibels over the legal limit. In some cases, the noise exceeded 70db, they said." Now: there is actually a heck of a lot to comment about, in that one sentence alone (in fact, I'll be coming back to it later). But for now, let's concentrate on- ly on the noise levels. It seems that the noise pollution that is suddenly causing so much distress to people like Sandro Chetcuti, is limited to somewhere between 60 and 70 deci- bels. And just to put that into context: according to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, "A whisper is about 30 dB, normal conversation is about 60 dB, and a motorcycle engine running is about 95 dB. Noise above 70 dB over a prolonged period of time may start to damage your hearing. Loud noise above 120 dB can cause immedi- ate harm to your ears." So yes: 70dB certainly qualifies as 'loud' (for a conversation, anyway). All the same, however: it almost fades to complete inaudibility, when compared to the noise-levels produced by any of the dozens of mega-construction pro- jects that are going on right now, as we speak: most of them, slap-bang in the middle of densely populated urban en- vironments. From a quick search on the Internet this morning, I discovered that a single, solitary jackhammer – which, let's face it, is not even the loudest sound to em- anate from Malta's many construction sites – can reach an intensity of… wait for it… 130 decibels! That's more than DOUBLE the noise-levels that developers like Sandro Chetcuti suddenly find so unbearable, when inflicted on their own ears… not to mention 10 dB LOUDER, than noises which can 'cause immediate harm'. And I need hardly add that there are parts of Malta where (right now: at this precise instant) you'll be able to hear as many as five or six jack-hammers, at the same time: all happily 'jack-hammering' away, with absolutely no consideration whatsoever for all the 'inconvenience' (not to mention ear-damage) caused to residents who are unfortunate to live within a half-mile radius. So, um, what can I say? Sandro Chet- cuti should consider himself lucky that he only has a nearby shooting range