God bless Brogad - Promoters welcome reopening of entertainment sector

Effective today, the entertainment sector is officially opened, following a two-year lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and while there is much celebration, some persons are cautious.

"This is one of the greatest things that could ever happen to me and my people," an ecstatic Whitfield 'Whitty' Henry told THE WEEKEND STAR.

Henry, a record producer and the promoter of the weekly event Uptown Mondays, which is staged at Savannah Plaza in St Andrew, has been feeling the hot pinch and is looking forward to flying the gate at the session come next week.

"God bless Brogad for doing this. The soup man, the peanut man, the chicken man will be out again, and the people will have something to look forward to. All the talented youngsters out there who have been just sitting around doing nothing, they will react to the music now instead of being frustrated. And when the tourists come, they will have a proper setting where they can enjoy the music and the culture that they come here for," Henry added.

He also believes that the re-opening of the sector will lower the crime rate "because music is all about healing". Henry also added that the session will be in full swing from 7 p.m. next Monday.

Stone Love CEO and promoter of Weddy Weddy Wednesdays, Winston 'Wee Pow' Powell, got a birthday present that he didn't really expect, but one which he was willing to enjoy, up to a point.

"Right now, me mash up like crackers," the birthday boy said half seriously. "Is like some people did want to cripple my industry with dem double standards, but music is a thing that is bigger than all of us, and we have to give it our all and fight to bounce back on our feet. We all know that Weddy Weddy is forever," said Powell, who is this year celebrating 50 years of Stone Love.

His own birthday bash is set for Saturday at Stone Love's HQ on Burlington Avenue, and the celebration will be as much about his milestone as it will be about the freedom of finally being "outside".

"It will take some time and money to bring the industry back to where it was. I hear about a loan facility, but I would like to know what is the interest rate. If it's more than five per cent, it can't work," Powell said in reference to Prime Minister Holness' announcement on Thursday of a $500 million loan facility which business persons in the sector can access through the Development Bank of Jamaica.

"This $500 million being allocated is not a grant; it is a loan on [a] commercial basis; however, it will come with great facilitation to assist businesses which have been formally informal to bring the informal entertainment sector into the formal sector," Holness said in Parliament.

Denton Atkins, the outspoken president of the Clarendon Promoters Association, said that it was a "good feeling to know that local promoters can stop running and hiding from the police and can apply legally for permits at the parish council". He lamented the fact that the sector has been closed for so long - two years - that some promoters in his organisation have had to find alternate sources of income and that many of them are faced with insurmountable bills.

His joy at the re-opening, he said, was greatly affected by the incident at Shenseea's album launch last Tuesday, at which some government officials were seen without the mandatory masks.

"I still want to know why those ministers were not charged. The prime minister told them to pay $100,000, but I have promoters who can ill afford it but were arrested, appeared before a judge in court and were charged $200,000 for the same breach. And, I am hearing about a loan facility, but I am hoping that the bar for accessing it is not so high that the people I represent can't jump over it," Atkins said.

Holness, in his presentation, reminded the public that events are regulated under various laws and are administered by various entities such as the municipal corporations and the JCF, from whom permits must be sought and licences paid. The permits granted will include a condition that the number of persons in any venue must be below 70 per cent of the capacity. This condition will be kept until April 15.