MICHAEL SHARPE LEAVE DI PEOPLE DEM PARTY ALONE, YUH A POLICE?

Michael Sharpe – File photos
Several members of the entertainment community are organising a protest that is intended to get news anchor Michael Sharpe removed from television, as they believe he has a vendetta against reggae and dancehall music.

Calls for Sharpe’s removal via BlackBerry broadcast messages and social networking site, Twitter, are circulating since this week after a series of dances in Kingston experienced earlier-than-usual lock offs. Sharpe, along with his job in the media, is also a district constable in the police force and has been on several of these operations.

His visibility on these operations has led to the current backlash. One broadcast received by The STAR stated, “calling for the immediate removal of Michael Sharpe from being TVJ’s news anchor man or else the music industry is going to boycott TVJ and Radio Jamaica. He needs to go fight crime and leave dancehall music alone.”

Since this week, two events, Uptown Mondays and Mojito Mondays, were locked off in operations. Broadcast messages received yesterday reflected this and called for immediate action; “Venues that been pressured by Michael Sharpe … the Building, Lime Light, Weddy Weddy, Uptown Mondays, Hennessy Fridayz and many more dancehall venues. We all need to protest in front of TVJ … Sharpe must go.”

Speaking with THE STAR, Q45, promoter of Hennessy Fridayz which is held on Burlington Avenue, was adamant that Michael Sharpe step down from his position on television.

“Right now, everybody in the music industry want Michael Sharpe out as a news anchor, cause he keeps going around and locking off reggae music. He’s taking a personal vendetta against reggae music,” he said.

“Who is Michael Sharpe to be doing this? He’s acting like he’s the superintendent of Half-Way Tree. He comes before the time is due and sits down and waits for the time to come and run in. He’s enjoying locking off music,” he told THE STAR.

no discretion

Q45 explained that he spoke to Sharpe last Friday when he came to lock off his Hennessey Fridayz 15 minutes before the scheduled lock-off time.

“Him don’t even use his discretion and ask us to turn down the music or to give us an extra 30 minutes. Him just lock off everything. Why him don’t look for the people who killed Copper Cat?” he questioned.

Weddy Weddy’s promoter, Winston ‘Weepow’ Powell, said he doesn’t believe Sharpe uses his discretion, and he believes some of the problems stem from the Noise Abatement Act, which says entertainment events should end at midnight on weekdays and 2 a.m. on weekends.

Weepow added that, despite having a club licence and staging the event once per week, his five-year-old event has been experiencing early lock offs. He said the licence allows him an extension to 4 a.m. and he has also been using smaller boxes to reduce the noise level.

The plight of the promoters and other members of the entertainment industry is fully understood by Minister of Culture Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange. At the launch of Follow Di Arrow and Tessanne Chin’s new album, she said there are plans to make amendments to the Noise Abatement Act. Changes to the act are also being pushed by the Constitution, Advocacy, Lobbying and Membership (C.A.L.M.) committee, which falls under the JaRIA (Jamaica Reggae Industry Association). The group has started a petition to get the act amended.

When contacted yesterday, Sharpe declined to give a comment concerning the calls for his removal from television. He requested that THE STAR contact Karl Angell, director of communication for the Jamaica Constabulary Force.

When contact was made with Senior Superintendent Derrick Knight, head of St Andrew Central, the division in which Sharpe operates, he said that he is not aware of any specific operation aimed at locking down events in the Corporate Area.

He said, however, that the police have been more vigilant due to an increase in the reports of stabbing and shooting incidents in the area, “with every approval we enforce the law, 12 midnight during weekdays and 2 a.m., on weekends. As it pertains to Michael Sharpe, he is a part of a team and he has supervisors. He doesn’t work by himself.”

In terms of Television Jamaica, managing director of the RJR Communications Group, Gary Allen, told THE STAR that he had heard some of the comments and received text messages and emails about threats of the station’s boycott and planned protest. He said he had the replied to the messages, but had not received any responses.

He declined to comment on whether or not the planned activities will affect the station, but maintained that the matter is one for the police and he does not think it is an issue that TVJ or RJR is involved in.

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