Measures against Night Business Operators Causing Noise Disamenity That Affect Residents

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng asked the Minister for Home Affairs what actions can be taken against night business operators that persistently cause noise disamenity which badly affects residents in a neighbourhood.

Sir, nightlife establishments are required to obtain the necessary land use approval from URA and are regulated by the Police under the Public Entertainments Act.

They must comply with conditions stipulated in their Public Entertainment licence, or PE licence for short. These include noise control requirements, for example, ensuring that any amplified sounds emanating from the premises do not exceed 55 A-weighted decibels when measured at the nearest residential dwelling after 10.30 pm.

The Police conduct regular checks on nightlife establishments to ensure that they comply with the licensing conditions. The frequency of checks takes into account complaints received from the public. Regulatory action will be taken against operators who do not comply with the licensing conditions. This includes suspending or revoking the operator’s PE licence.

Mr Speaker, I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I filed this Parliamentary Question on behalf of quite a number of my residents who are affected by this phenomenon. But I truly appreciate the good groundwork by our ground partners, such as the Neighbourhood Police Posts from Rochor, Marina Bay and Kampong Java and also agencies like NEA.

But they seemed to be quite constrained in their work on the ground and I wonder if MHA and other relevant agencies can review and take more effective upstream measures to contain this noise disamenity that comes as a result of night entertainment operators, such as ensuring that before allowing operating, that soundproofing and other measures are put in place first and that the decibel limits are actually looked into, whether it is really effective, that it does not affect the residents, such as restricting or disallowing licences in residential zones and also perhaps studying and granting the Police and agencies like NEA and LTA more power to enforce more effective measures against the errant operators.

Sir, I thank the Member for the supplementary questions. I would also like to thank the Member for working with our agencies in managing some of these issues.

Essentially, what we do is that when they apply for such licences, we will do a thorough assessment, looking at how the area is and the feedback received, and there are certain requirements that we also make them fulfill. For example, they must soundproof their unit and also, in their operations, their windows must all be closed and doors as well, unless there are people going in and out. They may also be required to install sound level meters to monitor such noises.

When we hear of such feedback, we will enhance the enforcement and work together as well with the operators. We will continue to work with the Member and we will see how we can manage these together and, at the same time, bring all the agencies together to help address the issues.