Government has condemned the recent move by the Mayor of Georgetown, Hamilton Green to have the Promenade Gardens unavailable for the hosting of New Year’s Eve activities by Hits and Jams, which the Government Information Agency said are supporters of the Administration.
Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon at a post-Cabinet media briefing at the Office of the President said that Government has resolved to send notices to all involved as it is not prepared to sit by idly and tolerate this descent into the “gutter politics” that is being played out with regards to Black supporters of the PPP/C Administration.
“We are unprepared to accept this eventuality because it smacks of all that we have rejected over the years in evolving a political culture and this Mayor and City Council in its decision is actually attempting to take us back to an era long gone,” the HPS lamented.
It is unclear what will now happen to the event originally scheduled for today.
Luncheon noted too, that the Mayor has clearly identified himself and the City Council of these perverse practices and is openly participating in APNU’s call to boycott Black business owners and sponsors who are supporters of the PPP/C, reminding that Hits and Jams and Kashif and Shanghai are two bodies that were singled out for boycott.
Green had told Stabroek News on Thursday that Hits and Jams Entertainment has been advertising an Old Year’s Night event to be hosted at the Promenade Gardens but that the venue will not be available.
Green told Stabroek News that Hits and Jams did not consult him or the committee responsible for the site and as a result it will be unable to use it.
Hits and Jams has been staging Old Year’s night events at the Promenade Gardens for some years now and when asked if the proper procedures were followed in past years, Green said yes. However, he pointed out that last year several plants and flowers were destroyed by patrons of the “Night of Elegance” and indicated that this was one of the reasons behind the decision against allowing use of the venue.
When the Hits and Jams’ head office was contacted, a representative indicated that contact would be made at a later time but this was not done.
Enquiries with another member of the promotion team were made and it was related that senior members, such as Kerwin Bollers and Rawle Ferguson, would be the appropriate persons to comment on the situation. However, further efforts made by this newspaper to contact them were futile.
