Barbados Prime Minister says 'NO' to Mavado/Vybz Kartel show this weekend

The Mavado, Vybz Kartel unity concert scheduled for this weekend in Barbados has been officially cancelled. Prime Minister David Thompson made the announcement at a press conference held yesterday, exactly two days before the event.

Thompson is quoted in the Barbados Advocate as saying: “That quest to do the right thing by Barbadians prompted my request for the meeting with the organisers of the proposed show and I am happy to announce that in deference to the expressed wishes and the anxieties of a very wide cross-section of Barbadians, that the organisers of the Mavado/Vybz Kartel show and Youth Forum have agreed to the revamping of initiatives resulting in the cancellation of this weekend’s activities.”

The prime minister said that persons were mainly concerned with the idea of these artistes being portrayed as role models.

Interestingly, Vybz Kartel, the Gaza president and Mavado, the Gully god performed in Barbados on separate occasions in October and November of last year, during what was then the height of Gully/Gaza tensions between them and their respective supporters.No attempt was reportedly made then by the government nor the police to prevent those concerts, which progressed incident-free.