Beenie Man In, Mavado Out


Now that Bounty Killer and Mavado have been banned from Guyana for security reasons the promoter of the show slated for this weekend in Liden has expressed his disapproval calling the move by the Government unfair.

The gangster from Cassava Piece, Mavado was scheduled to perform at the upcoming event this weekend, but due to the newly imposed restrictions, alternate plans had to be made and the King of the Dancehall Beenie Man is set to fill the void left by the Alliance deejay.
Event promoter Ryan Apple was quoted in the Stabroek News (Guyanese newspaper) referring to the ban as an unjustified and unfair move by the government that ignores the investment made. He said government appears to be putting Mavado in a box by pointing to a few of his songs, adding that the artiste has a variety of music that speaks to other things, and has wide appeal. When the ban announcement was made only security concerns were mentioned.

Regarding Bounty Killer he said ,I find it strange that government is moving to ban an artiste that was here last year and sang those very songs that are now popular and someone whose music receives much airplay. They have no idea how many persons came in for Linden town day to see Mavado and the efforts that were put into the promotion, Apple stated.

Though no official word has reached him on the ban Apple said he has already made contact with Jamaica and according to him, they were not as stunned as him. He said that discussions were held in advance with Mavados people about how sensitive the local atmosphere is right now.

Apple said that if government had issued guidelines for the Linden show instead of banning the artiste, he would have abided by them. He added that the security concerns being cited need to be elaborated upon.

In announcing the ban on Monday on Bounty Killer and Mavado, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee said his ministry had exercised a lot of patience with entertainment organizers over the types of shows they hold here, pointing out that not long ago the authorities had sat down with some of the organizers to draft a set of conditions by which shows would be guided. But he noted that these conditions had not been upheld and as such they were blacklisting Bounty Killer and Mavado.

The meetings Rohee referred to were held last year following the Guyana Music Festival which featured Jamaican reggae star Buju Banton among others, and where several declamations were made against the gay community. Though Rohee did not elaborate on the bans now in effect, Bounty Killers explicit incitements to murder gays is believed to have been a deciding factor while in Mavados case, the gangster image he portrays has worked against him.