Dear Editor,

Allow me to voice this growing social issue in Honiara, Solomon Islands.

The so called fund raising activity at night is increasingly becoming one of the main sources of common nuisance today in the residential areas of Honiara. The night fund raising activity using amplified music and unwanted noise from the dancing groups tends to aggravate everyone’s nerves not to mention the noisy contribution from the drunkards in the neighborhood.

It is annoying especially when a tired worker who needs a good rest, a sick member of the family who needs a quiet time, a student who needs to study at home while a new born baby at home is trying to get a peaceful night’s rest just could not do so because of the noise pollution at night.

According to section 172 of the Solomon Islands Panel Code, common nuisance is an offence and any person who breaches this provision shall be liable to imprisonment for one year. It is important that the public know about this law especially when it comes to dealing with noise pollution in residential areas.

The urgent call to the public now is to report to the police any form of noise disturbance in your area. Let us all be responsible to maintain a peaceful and quiet night for all families in our neighborhood by reporting common nuisance.

Thank you for your consideration.
Geoffrey Mauriasi
Laucala Campus, USP, Fiji