Stop hosting illegal events - ... Promoters urge colleagues

With two different gun attacks claiming lives at parties held in breach of COVID-19 regulations on the weekend, event promoters are urging their colleagues to cease and desist from hosting any more illegal events.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness recently announced that a drop in COVID-19 cases could lead to relaxed safety measures for the Christmas season, and the promoters are wondering if the attacks could cause more problems for the entertainment industry.

"The more we as promoters continue to breach all the guidelines in the Disaster Risk Management Act, is the longer it will take for us to be allowed to legally restart event coordination. As we all can see, the numbers of COVID cases are fairly consistent on a daily basis, and that alone shows that we are faced with an uphill battle. So if we have that issue, and we're adding the illegal staging of events or gatherings, you will find that we may sink into a deeper hole where events are concerned," said Romaine 'Luigi' Brown, promoter for Allure, Daybreak and Hennessy V.

Brown said that whether persons like the COVID rules or not, the Government's laws must be followed.

"I don't know if the Government should or will use those two instances to clamp down on the overall issue of restarting the industry, but I do know the affiliation is too great to go unnoticed and unmentioned," he said.

Being tempted

Hotta Rice, selector and promoter of Day Rave Thursdays, said instead of being tempted to host events in breach of the Disaster Risk Management Act, he opted to go the US where restrictions are a bit more relaxed. He believes that hosting illegal events will only make things worse for all players.

"No party nuh supposed to a keep right now and we can hold out. Bro Gad (Holness) promise say if things improve, him might ease restrictions. We see weh di illegal party dem a cause and is not just the gathering which can contribute to the rise in corona cases, but it a cause violence. It nuh safe in all ways," he said. "Mi know the Government must a pree right now and we been a plead to dem fi gi we a likkle opening and den dis a go come so is like the prime minister a go deh at a crossroads and a dat we nuh want."

Fabian O'Hara, vice-president at Lawless Events, the entity responsible for the popular Marco Polo event, said that with the possibility of the regulations being relaxed for Christmas, it is unfortunate that a few are spoiling the vibe for everybody "fi two bakkle a rum and few hours of bliss".

"This could really affect us in the long run. So hear the meds, mi wah all a mi colleagues just reach out to everybody weh you know and tell dem fi ease up pon the events dem fi a while. We have a lot of big investments tied up in this pandemic, and the only way we recover even a portion of these monies is if these events get a chance to go ahead," said O'Hara.