"It is like 1,000 machine guns on loudspeakers going on from 8.30am until sometimes past 8pm" says a resident who lives near the worksite.
"Noise pollution control at Pasir Panjang Terminal Phase 2 is ineffective. Is there any external audit to satisfy public transparency?" she asks.
Non-stop din from port construction site
Straits Times Forum 2 Jul 09;
CONSTRUCTION of the container port in Pasir Panjang Terminal Phase 2 is in progress and will continue until 2013. This spells bad news for those of us living nearby.
The construction site generates unbearable noise every day incessantly. It is like 1,000 machine guns on loudspeakers going on from 8.30am until sometimes past 8pm. We are not spared the deafening, stress-provoking din even on weekends and public holidays.
Forget about sleeping in on holidays or staying at home with the windows open - unless you enjoy the idea of going mad.
Almost every weekend, residents in my neighbourhood, including me, call the National Environment Agency (NEA) to ask for help. Thus far, the NEA is unable to solve the problem. Invariably, we receive the standard reply to our pleas: According to its on-site noise meter, noise levels are within acceptable limits.
Once, an officer told me he did not know where the site was, and later that the site was 'out at sea' and he could not reach it.
At other times, we received a call late in the evening, when the machines had stopped after a full day of auditory assault, assuring us that NEA had advised the contractors to be more considerate.
And like Groundhog Day, this sequence of events repeats itself every weekend, without fail.
Noise pollution control at Pasir Panjang Terminal Phase 2 is ineffective. Is there any external audit to satisfy public transparency?
Dr Mei Yee Choy
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