LIVE music in Paphos is being killed off by over zealous police officers who are handing out fines for loud noise levels, which performers say have no legal basis.
Davis East earns his living as a professional singer and performer and says that last year Paphos police entered his venues on a weekly basis, complaining about the noise.
“Every Friday I perform at a well known pub on the Tombs of the Kings road, and despite the owner taking a decibel meter reading every half hour to keep us within the EU guidelines, officers still insisted the music is too loud,” he complained.
EU regulations state that noise levels in bars should be below 85db, with occasional spikes permitted up to 140db. The problem in Cyprus is that although the law has been adopted it has still yet to be enacted. This means that at present there are no legal limits for the bars or police to adhere to, making monitoring levels almost impossible.
“I’ve seen the owner of a bar reduced to tears, despite the fact that music levels are well within the law. It ruins the evening for the tourists and they then leave,” said East.
Bar and club owners in tourist strips point out that they are not in residential areas and therefore it’s acceptable that noise will be at a certain level. They also stress that they want lawful regulation, and not just a police officer relying on his hearing.
Ken Dyke of Charlie’s Bar on the Tomb of the Kings road has recently paid another €1,000 fine for noise pollution. He’s paid more than €3,500 in penalties in the past 18 months.
“I have my own decibel meter, and when I see the police entering my bar, I try to show them the reading, but they’re not interested. They come in plain clothes and say, ‘we can hear the noise from the pavement and we’ve had a complaint’.”
Dyke said that he feels powerless but hopes there will be regulated legal measures in place in the coming months.
“The police won’t even pick up my meter, I’ve told them they can use it, and measure the sound. We usually emit levels at around 82-83 decibels.”
Dyke, who has just been to court on another noise pollution violation, said he asked the judge what the evidence of loud sound levels was based on. He was told the police stated, ‘noise from his bar could be heard 30 metres away.’ When he pressed the judge to find out the level of the noise, no response was forthcoming.
Paphos councilor, Nicos Similides, said the municipality was waiting for the government to approve a new law and purchase decibel meters to check the noise being emitted from bars, clubs and other businesses.
Similides believes the police need to press the government harder because, “without the correct equipment, there are many problems”.
He gave an example.
“If the police are passing a pub and hear music, they may think it’s loud, when in fact it’s not and this is not fair to the establishment,” he said.” If they were in possession of a meter, this would immediately determine if the music is too loud or not.”
“We’ve got a meter, but the police don’t recognise the evidence, they’re not interested,” said Peter Thomson of the Frog’n’Toad in Coral Bay.
“I think they come when they receive complaints, which would be fair enough if the music was loud and they were using a decibel meter. But two weeks ago, I had one solo singer, the music was within the permitted EU levels, and they still told me to turn it down.”
So great is their frustration that pub owners have resorted to taking down the ID numbers of the police officers and giving them to their solicitors to see what action can be taken.
“I think it’s all wrong. The tourists are coming here to be entertained, it’s why they’re here. Where will the visitors go for enjoyment in the evenings?’
Music licences are handed out by Paphos town hall and approved by the police, although there seems to be some confusion as to what licenses are available in Paphos, with one police officer quoted as saying, “all live music is illegal”.
The police meanwhile insist they are just doing their job. “It’s always been this way,” a police source said. “And until the law changes, it will stay this way. Anyway, many places play music which is much too loud.”
