00:00Activist Nalini Dial tells the Morning Edition the silent pyrotechnics are a welcome step,
00:07particularly for animals, but she warns that silent does not necessarily mean inaudible
00:13to them.
00:14She hopes the move becomes a building block for changing how the country celebrates.
00:19We are very glad because we need to deal with our noise pollution in Trinidad and Tobago,
00:25not only how it affects animals, the elderly children and all of that, right?
00:30It's also a way forward, and as we are celebrating independence, it could be a way to change
00:38our culture now in a different direction, so the government is leading the way, and we
00:44are glad for that.
00:46However, Dial says the real change is enforcement.
00:50With fireworks now permitted on public holidays, she questions whether police will have the
00:55resources and will enforce the rules governing their use.
01:00But the Prime Minister said last year, I think, she brought the new law, she's now allowing
01:08it on all public holidays, and we have 14 public holidays, and between I think eight to nine,
01:15but how many people are going to abide with that eight to nine slot?
01:19They are going to go on, go on, and who's going to check?
01:23So we now have to deal with fireworks use on 14 public holidays, because the government
01:30said you can do it.
01:31She says noise pollution cannot be treated as a seasonal problem, arguing that independence
01:37should also prompt a conversation about respect for others and the kind of society Trinidad
01:43and Tobago wants to be.
01:45We have to change the mentality of our citizens, you know, respect, as the gentleman said, respect
01:52each other.
01:54We celebrate independence.
01:56To be really independent, you have to be able to boast that you take care of, you know,
02:03the homeless, the voiceless, you deal with littering, noise pollution, respect each other.
02:08This is what I think really being independent is about.
02:13Nicole M. Romney, TV6 News.
