Event Organisers Urged To Follow Established Protocols

Mayor of Kingston, Senator Councillor Delroy Williams, is reminding organisers of events to follow the established guidelines and protocols that have been implemented by the Government for their staging.

He reminded promoters that based on the size of their events, approvals should be received from the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), as well as amusement licences from municipal corporations and permits from the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).

“So the municipality is still very central to the application process for amusement licences. As a matter of fact, we grant the amusement licences under the regulations and we want that to be very clear… as persons may feel that once they get the approval of the Ministry of Health and [Wellness] and ODPEM then that’s the end of the process for them,” he said.

“We are saying clearly ‘no’, that you must move on to the normal procedure through the municipalities. We want to be very clear with that,” he stressed.

The Mayor was addressing the monthly meeting of the Kingston and St. Andrew Municipal Corporation held on Tuesday (July 13), at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston.

Senator Williams said that since the reopening of the entertainment sector, the municipality has been receiving a steady increase in the number of applications.

“We just want to encourage promoters to abide by the protocols established for these events. It’s very important that they do so. A party environment can be one that is difficult to manage but it can be managed and we are asking promoters just to take all the steps necessary to do so,” he urged.

The Mayor further encouraged promotors to follow the necessary steps in the staging of their events to ensure that they are being held within the requirements of the law.

The entertainment industry was officially reopened on July 1, 2021. The sector was closed as part of the Government’s efforts to minimise the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19).

The protocols for the sector’s reopening were crafted by the Ministries of Health and Wellness, Local Government and Rural Development, and Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, working in tandem with industry practitioners.

The protocols relate to two categories of events – small events with no more than 100 persons in total, including organisers and support personnel, and large events of over 100 persons.

Small events include outdoor concerts, parties, round robins, festivals, community events, corporate mixers, handover or ground-breaking ceremonies, and other activities of this nature.

Large events comprise stage shows, church conventions, conferences or crusades, festivals and related activities.