Almost a month after pandemonium broke out at the National Park in Georgetown when gunshots were discharged during the dancehall concert dubbed “Baderation”, and hundreds of patrons had to run for cover, Regional Commander of Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) Kurleigh Simon said his ranks will be tightening the security for the upcoming “Skillibeng” show in their district.
The Jamaican artist Emwah Warmington known as “Skillibeng” is expected to perform in Berbice on August 14.
According to Simon, he is working along with the promoters of the event to see how many ranks he will need for the event.
“…we will have to see if we will have to draw additional ranks…maybe to ask for additional ranks from out of the region to help us police that event… our sanitisation of the region will also commence way before.”
The Commander said he has taken note of the last public event [the Baderation show] and is working very hard not to have the same thing happen in his region.
“We have taken notes and we are putting systems in place to ensure that the region is policed before, during, and after that particular event,” he said.
“We have already established that they will be a no weapon policy irrespective of who you are. We are also going to put systems in place for persons who are carrying a licensed firearm, to have those firearms secured at a convenient location where they can be retrieved after the event…” he explained.
Just last month during the Baderation concert, persons were seen running for their lives as bottles were thrown in the air and guns were fired, resulting in some patrons receiving injuries, and several persons were robbed.
At the time, Jamaica dancehall artist Kevaun Douglas, known as “Skeng”, was on stage performing one of his popular tunes, “Protocol”.
Following this unruly episode, Police Commissioner (ag) Clifton Hicken had a meeting with the organisers of the show at the Guyana Police Force Headquarters at Eve Leary, Georgetown, and several issues regarding the breach of security and subsequent discharge of gunshots at the concert were discussed.
Recommendations were also made for strict compliance prior to the hosting of any other such event in the future.
Following that meeting, Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn announced that “artistes like Skeng” will be banned from performing at public events in Guyana.
This was due to concerns that the artiste might have influenced the partygoers’ violent behaviour at the concert. The Minister also disclosed that these artistes will only be able to perform in enclosed places if possible.
