Jamzone organizers unfazed by latest obstacles

Aug 18, 2012 News

– Summer Break kicks off tight

Despite a variety of challenges in recent years, the Hits and Jams (HJ) entertainment group is optimistic that the Summer Break event will not only be a success this year, but will provide a much needed boost to the tourism sector for many years to come. This is according to Kerwin Bollers, a representative of Hits and Jams’ promotion committee. He was speaking at a media briefing for the Summer Break event.

The chutney artistes promise to rock the stadium tonight.

Over the past months, the HJ team has faced boycotts after calls for such action from the Youth Coalition for Transformation (YCT) after the November 2011 elections. The coalition called for boycotts of the HJ events due to the entity’s relationship with the ruling party.
The HJ team was also denied permission by the WICB to host a Masters T20 cricket competition for this year’s Jamzone episode.
These setbacks resulted in much loss of revenue at the promoters end.
However, Bollers stated Hits and Jams has seen growth and will not give up on endorsing entertainment in Guyana in spite of opposition in many areas.
“There has been a rise in the number of persons coming into the country to witness the events during the Jamzone period, because hotels are booked to capacity. They have revealed that many contingents will accompany the delegates from around the region as promised,” Bollers said
He noted that the team is at a disadvantage with regards to securing international artistes that would show interest in coming to Guyana to perform. The promoter said that this issue stems from the fact that Guyana is not relatively well known globally.
“We have a challenge of proving that Guyana is safe and it is the place to be, but once the artistes get here and experience the hospitality of the Guyanese people those concerns are immediately resolved.”
Meanwhile, the Jamzone Summer Break 12 gets underway tonight with the ‘Chutney Summa’ Mega Concert.