THE Enugu State Government said it would begin enforcement of the anti-noise pollution policy to combat the rampant noise pollution in the metropolis on November 15, this year.

Chairman of Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority ECTDA, Mr. Uche Anya, who disclosed this during a stakeholders’ engagement on how to minimise noise in the state on Thursday, August 15, said: “The state government will soon begin the implementation of the anti-noise pollution policy in Enugu capital and environs to regulate noise within the residential areas.”

While describing the engagement as apt, Anya advised churches and owners of entertainment centres to soundproof their buildings in order not to disturb the neighbourhood.

He explained that the engagement was not to demolish any church or entertainment centre, but to brainstorm on the best way to make the residential areas have some level of sanity, adding that the authority had received over 1,000 petitions from the people concerning the rate of noise pollution in the state.

The ECTDA boss said if a church or an entertainment centre existed before residential houses started springing up around the zone, the church or the entertainment centre should soundproof the building.

He threatened to shut down any church or entertainment centre sited within the residential zones that refused to comply with the directive, even when it had obtained any form of noise permit from the state government.

Anya promised that the agency would be humane in handling the situation, which he said was not aimed at harming anyone, but to make the state conducive for living and in the best interest of residents.

In their separate speeches, Rev. Carley Ibekwe and Alhaji Sariki Sambo assured the agency of their readiness to comply with the directives.

Also, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Mainstream Media, Chief Dan Nwome, and his New Media counterpart, Dr. Reuben Onyishi, commended Anya for his efforts in bringing sanity to the state capital, urging him to also consider relocating roadside mechanics to a better place.