Headlines:
| Movado allowed to perform in Dominica |
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| Friday, 04 July 2008 | |
 The Dominican government has turned down a request from a
Christian group asking that it deny permission for Jamaican dancehall star
"Movado" to perform at a concert on Saturday.Movado, whose real name is David Brooks, has been banned in Guyana and St. Vincent and the Grenadines for what his critics say are violent and homophobic lyrics. Dominica's Tourism Minister Ian Douglas Friday said a ban on the artiste would not be in keeping with the spirit of CARICOM. Mr. Douglas said Movado is a CARICOM national and that he has not yet committed any offence in Dominica. At a news conference Thursday, president of the Evangelical Association of Dominica, Bishop Michael Daniel claimed Movado's performance will instigate violence among the country's youth and called on government to stop the concert. He said while there would be some financial losses if the show was called off, those losses would pale in comparison to the damage that could take place to the country's moral fabric if it went ahead. The religious group argued that the concert is taking place at a time when violence among youth appears to be on the increase. The organisers of the concert have described the statements by the religious group as "regrettable". The Prime Minister however said government will conduct a postmortem of the event with a view to putting in place more stringent requirements for future performances by the artiste if his performance is deemed unacceptable. |