Teino Evans, Entertainment Coordinator
Dutty Fridaze will return to its original home in Fletchers Land today, for one night only.
The weekly dance, which had to uproot and move to Hellshire Beach less than a month ago, changed venues yet again in order to stage its second anniversary.
The popular street dance was moved to Hellshire initially because no permit was granted by the police due to an upsurge in violence in the surrounding communities.
Artistes
"I applied from long time to keep the anniversary tomorrow (today) and about three days ago they (the police) are telling me that I cannot keep it because of the number of artistes on the show," Wayne 'Two Gran' Bartley, the event's promoter, told The WEEKEND STAR.
"Furthermore, dem sey Dutty Fridaze attract violent patrons whose actions pose a threat to public safety, and the premises that it is being held is not safe... this was sent to me by the Portmore Police Division."
When contacted, Superintendent Terrence Bent, in charge of the Portmore Division, told THE WEEKEND STAR that the event would not be allowed to take place.
"No, it will not (take place) because in my estimation there is a security concern. From what I have been informed, some elements of the crowd that follow the event pose some serious security concerns and the area that it (Dutty Fridaze) is held in is not conducive to this," Supt. Bent said.
However, Two Gran says "It seems unfair that we (Dutty Fridaze) nuh get nuh permit 'cause dem sey di venue is not safe, an is di same place that Prendy's on the Beach is kept every Sunday, and that event is still on."
Sabotage
The Dutty Fridaze promoter says, "It is my belief that other promoters are trying to sabotage my ting, because the police have given permission for another event to be held at the same venue."
In the meantime, Two Gran has had to move quickly to get permission for another venue to stage the anniversary, as he says, "A lot of money has already been spent.
"So for tomorrow's (today's) Dutty Fridaze we have to relocate back to our original home in Fletchers Land square for one night, but we are still in dialogue with the police (in Portmore) to go back to Hellshire after that.
"We have already spent up a lot of money to have artistes like Bugle, Serani, Voicemail, Vegas, T.O.K, Bounty Killer, Beenie Man and Kartel, and some of these artistes will have other shows to go or dem might even fly out by next week, suh wi cyaan tek no chance an put off di anniversary," Two Gran said.
The anniversary celebration promises to be a memorable one.
"Most of the dancers will be getting awards, some deejays will be getting awards and also some patrons. We will also have bucket deals and we have prizes for who we will not have cash prizes for. So mi jus waan fi ask the fans to work wid mi, because mi haffi a tell dem fi guh here suh an there suh, but a jus to how di police ting a gwaan," Two Gran said.
Appealing
The Dutty Fridaze promoter also said he was appealing to the Portmore police for greater cooperation.
"We want to work with them. Our dance has been branded as an event that gunmen follow and the dance is used as a means of gun trade, but that is very wrong, and it can be proven from the Divisional Area (Central) where the dance is coming from.
"They have had no reports of any such thing taking place at Dutty Fridaze, the only thing we might be guilty of is going a little beyond the 2 a.m. lock-off time an di whole 'Night Noise' thing, and that is normal."
Foota Hype at the controls.
A scene from Dutty Fridaze. - Nathaniel Stewart Photos
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