Comments on: Hell's bells

By: John Schembri

John Schembri — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 18:48:33 +0000

@ Anna Spiteri : First of all I am pleased that you won the case, it shouldn’t have gone this far .
Ask the people who like this kind of noise and let them connect the speakers in their homes. As a true catholic the arch-priest should know that charity comes before “religious tradition”. He should know better.As a sign of good will he should have toned down the chimes to 50dB and set the clock to go off every hour from sunrise to sunset.
It is nice to hear the pealing of bells every now and then , but this was unbearable.

By: Anna Spiteri

Anna Spiteri — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 15:21:45 +0000

Carmel Said, I have always been told by the arch-priest that I am the only one that “thinks” that the clock is doing us harm, and that nobody else in Senglea complains. Please do write to the arch-priest and if you know of others ask them to do so too. The court judgement explicity explains that noise above 60 dBA can cause high blood pressure and heart attacks. There is enough stress in every day life without the caprice of a few who have nothing to do but punish us with excessive noise in the name of religious tradition

By: Anna Spiteri

Anna Spiteri — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 13:29:06 +0000

thanks Daphne,

Well, I am sad to say in contempt of the court and in contempt of the court judgement that this clock has been doing us harm for 8 years….this morning at 11.15 the clock was put on again banging every 15 minutes and the noise measurements read from 75 to 85dBA and more. The judgement clearly says not higher than 60dBA. Yes, I fought this battle alone because I did not want to cause strife in the community, but I am exhausted and I do need help now.

(Daphne – I suppose your neighbours would rather suffer the noise than stick their neck out and upset a priest. And I am shocked to hear that the church is defying an explicit court injunction, which puts it on a par with Chris Said’s horrible brothers in Nadur, who defied the police when they tried to evict them from an illegal construction yard.)

By: Carmel Said

Carmel Said — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 07:20:11 +0000

I live right next to the Senglea church and certainly agree with what this woman is saying. The noise is unbearable. Every 15 minutes without a break. It becomes even worse during festa time when the bells seem to “chime” for what seems like hours on end. Me and my family actually go to Gozo every year when festa time arrives as it is impossible to live in the area. While in Gozo, other neighbours escaping seem to pop up all over the place!!

[Daphne – Well, then it’s a shame she was left to fight this battle alone, isn’t it? How about rallying round?]

By: John Schembri

John Schembri — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 19:43:32 +0000

I cannot understand why the church authorities did not intervene.
The lady lived there before the bells were installed , the bells going off every quarter of an hour (morning noon and night ?) made her swear every time the ‘blessed’ bells rang.
Thank God for this ruling.

By: Mark Aloisio

Mark Aloisio — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:47:48 +0000

A church-organized petition to keep the clock ticking and chiming even if it damages people’s health! Sure sounds like this Senglea church and its clergy have their priorities straight.