For­mer Min­is­ter of Tourism, Cul­ture and the Arts Ran­dall Mitchell has cau­tioned against what he de­scribed as the “re­duc­tion” of Trinidad and To­ba­go’s cul­tur­al ex­pres­sion to mere “noise,” fol­low­ing Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar’s an­nounce­ment of new mea­sures to curb noise pol­lu­tion, in­clud­ing a ban on all fetes at the Bri­an Lara Crick­et Acad­e­my.

In a post on X, Per­sad-Bisses­sar said the Gov­ern­ment will in­tro­duce leg­is­la­tion to es­tab­lish des­ig­nat­ed qui­et hours and im­pose re­stric­tions on fetes, mu­sic trucks, res­i­den­tial par­ties, and bars. The move, she said, is aimed at tack­ling the grow­ing prob­lem of noise pol­lu­tion and its neg­a­tive im­pact on near­by com­mu­ni­ties.

But speak­ing to CNC3 News, Mitchell ar­gued that such blan­ket bans would do more harm than good.