So I was unfortunately sans iPod at the gym today and therefore had to be subjected to the rantings of a radio DJ who regularly confuses his microphone with a soap box. Instead of using said instrument to introduce songs (local radio personalities have an annoying penchant for singing along to the music instead of informing listeners of the artist and song title), he thought it necessary to share his opinion on the latest controversy to arise from Carnival 2006 – the fact that every weekend, huge public fetes are being held in the National Stadium (dubbed Soca Broadway), which is located on the outskirts of Woodbrook, once a residential area, now becoming increasingly commerical – and the events are proving disruptive to many in the area.
Residents have complained about the noise (is the Environmental Management Authority even enforcing the noise pollution laws?) and the fact that when the drunken patrons are leaving the venue, they do so with no regard for the residents of the area. One fed-up homeowner said in today’s Guardian:
“After these parties, which finish about three or four in the morning, these people are coming out of the fetes and rattling on the gates of the residents, shouting, ‘Get up, you Woodbrook people, get up!’â€
He said the party-goers also urinated and broke bottles on the walls of residents and carried on in the worst way possible.
Last Sunday, as he was trying to leave for church, his gateway was blocked by a van. He claimed six drunken youths were breaking bottles on the nearby youth centre wall and shouting, “Move meh, nah…move meh, nah!â€
The DJ’s take on this atrocious behaviour was both simplistic and illogical, claiming that the Woodbrook residents, most of whom are now elderly, had their “feting days” and are now begrudging the young people their time to enjoy the Carnival season. He accused them of being anti-Carnival and admonished them to “love up the culture”.
If bad behaviour is now being touted as “culture”, then we are in a sorry state – quite ironic when you consider that our national watchwords are Discipline, Tolerance and Production. His statement has proven, in one fell swoop, that there is no discipline (for that, you would need to be able to stop yourself from getting inebriated to the point where you would piss on a wall); no tolerance (for that, you would need to be open-minded enough to respect the fact that your choices should not be forcibly imposed on someone else); and no Production (since the majority of party-goers do not show up for work the next day, and if they do, are probably no good to themselves or anyone else). But perhaps worst of all, it has proven that we are quickly losing the ability to discern the difference between right and wrong.
There is a dirth of understanding about the role of D.J.’s on our radios now. They either “perform” as you described in your post or they adopt the psuedo-American (not even a good “Fresh-water Yankee”) accent while doing their self-serving shifts on irrelevant Top 40 stations. This extends to the so-called talk-show hosts who use the opportunities given them to promote their narrow, intolerant agendas.
Tell them, Francomenz!
And at the volumes deejays in public fetes play music in this place, we’re all going to end up deaf as well as dumb.
Delphine
PS Can you imagine how this loud music sounds to a dog like me?
D.
I can imagine! In have a theory that DJs play music at the dangerous decibel levels that they do because they’ve already suffered severe hearing loss – as a result, everything has to be louder for it to be audible to them. Misery loves company…
[...] Francomenz adds her two cents’ to the debate about the boundary separating so-called “culture” from respect for private space and property in the context of Trinidad’s Carnival. [...]
Well… I get similar problems in San’do because of the sheer volume of fetes. Damage to property during Carnival is ‘just the cost of doing business’ as well… I think I’ll take pictures Carnival Sunday or Saturday prior to show what looks like a preparation for a hurricane.
)
I did notice that CEPEP already cleaned the streets, and streets which are on the Carnival route in San’do got new lights. If you’re not getting jammed with music, tough luck…
The real problem is that there is no enforced zoning. Town and Country just… well, it’s effective when it chooses to be (and how it makes those choices should be in public debate). Commercial and residential areas overlap, and in a country this size, people should probably be a little more sensitive. But the truth is that Fete organizers don’t care about people outside of the fete.
Maybe they pay off the right people.
Maybe the question should be asked: Who do residents have to bribe so that they aren’t disturbed?
[...] Carnival-related blogging heated up in early February. Caribbean Free Photo posted images from the Phase II Pan Groove panyard, and photographer Stefan Falke paid a visit to the Kilimanjaro moko jumbie (stilt-walker) school. Francomenz wrote about an exhibition of Carnival masks by veteran masman Wayne Berkeley, but also about noise pollution from Carnival parties, a huge frustration for people living near to popular fete venues. She finally caught the Carnival “vibe” at a performance of the 3Canal show. Attillah Springer had previously blogged about sitting in on one of the rehearsals; Caribbean Free Photo posted a full set of images of the opening night performance at Flickr; and I was struck by the Canals’ attempt to link the message of their protest songs to the tradition of Carnival “resistance”. [...]