Central St James MP wants more from entertainment

Nagra Plunkett, Assignment Coordinator

WESTERN BUREAU:

Member of Parliament (MP) for Central St James, Lloyd B. Smith, is aggressively pursuing a plan to develop the city of Montego Bay as the cultural arts mecca of the region.

"Montego Bay is a brand name but we haven't exploited it," Smith said. "We do not have signature attractions in Montego Bay, we do not have enough entertainment in Montego Bay, and entertainment is one of the profitable industries to be in, alongside sports."

The MP believes that harnessing the creative capacity and establishing a state-of the-art recording studio will result in increased economic benefits to the city, and largely the parish of St James.

"Having established that studio, it is my intention to capture as many of the local artistes as possible, and we are going to manage them, market them, (and) take them to the world, particularly Europe and Japan, where Jamaican music is very, very popular - especially live Jamaican music," he shared.

"We see so many of our youngsters, many of them who are talented, they can sing, deejay, they can dance - but are not getting enough exposure in Montego Bay. If we look back over the years, historically, very few artistes have emerged from Montego Bay and have gone on to national and international prominence."

Lots of potential

Well-known Montego Bay party promoter André 'Pnut' Brown agrees that the entertainment industry has not been fully maximised, and represents a very a lucrative revenue generator.

"What Mr Smith speaks about is not trying to find aliens on a different planet because what he's saying is evident all around us," said Brown, who is known for his Short Circuit parties.

"Entertainment, the arts and music are the leading sources of income in the world. What we need to do here is to embrace it, love it and make steps to pursue it. It will also help in bettering the images of ourselves, raising our standard of living, because aspirants in the field are young people and they represent the people," added Brown

Smith was sharing his vision during the official media launch of the BritJam 2012 Spring Break Festival slated for March 6 to 12 in Montego Bay.

Appleton Jamaica Rum is this year's title sponsor of the event that will comprise 11 day-and-night events across the western city.

The three-year-old concept is to bring British and American spring breakers into Jamaica to party and enjoy the tourism product.

"I want to commend the organisers of this event, and I am particularly pleased that the persons behind this are young persons," added the MP. "... You are in the right field because any study that would have been done of the world economy would have pointed to the fact that entertainment and sports are two of the lucrative fields to pursue," Smith explained.

Smith also urged the organisers of BritJam to help expose young and upcoming artistes.