AN angry Portmore mayor, George Lee, yesterday decried the violence at the Sting dancehall show at the Jamworld Entertainment Centre early Saturday and warned promoters that they will in the future have to meet stringent criteria to host shows in his municipality.

In fact, Lee said that his municipal council – launched in June with legislation to allow for the direct election of a Portmore mayor – will soon decide on criteria for shows in the area, as well as requirements for the use of the entertainment centre.

“The next time anyone is using Jamworld they will have to meet certain criteria . (and) prove to us that such a distasteful event will never, ever happen again,” Lee told the Observer.

Sting, held annually in December after Christmas, mostly features hard-core dancehall acts. But it has grown notorious for the extreme misbehaviour of the performers and violence.

Things, however, reached a new low early Saturday with a nasty onstage brawl between two dancehall performers, the well-known Ninja Man, who has a reputation for his many brushes with the law, and a rising star in the dancehall genre, Vybz Kartel.

Additionally, missiles were hurled from the crowd at performers and when it was announced that one of the headline acts, Bounty Killer, would not appear, gunshots were also fired.

Yesterday, with rumours swirling that he had been fatally shot, Vybz Kartel reassured fans that he was unharmed via an interview on the RJR radio station, but claimed to have received death threats.

On Zip 103 FM, he apologised for the incident and conceded that it was a blight on the music industry.

Ninja Man, who insisted that he had not started the fight, told radio stations that he had turned the matter over to the police. Television cameras, he said, had proved that he was not the aggressor.

Police estimated that over 20,000 people attended the show. At least 20 people were injured in the violence, although the figure could be much higher, and at least one of them, a CVM television cameraman, was admitted to hospital with head injuries.

In the face of the violence Christine Wella, the wife of one half of a white-American dancehall duo called Nuff Stylz, had frantically called Jamaica trying to find her husband, Rich Wella. She had been unable to find either Rich or his partner, Sal Lopizolo, and feared the worst.

But yesterday, the group’s publicist, Dave Rodney said both Wella and Lopizolo had actually left the venue before the melee.

“Nuff Stylz’s management made the decision to leave before the mayhem got into high gear because of the warning signals,” Rodney said. “They are safe and sound.”

According to Rodney, the group had noticed “a certain level of unease at the venue”.

“People were running and scampering in small sections long before the big drama. That, to me, is a signal that things are not what they should be,” he said.

The group would not rule out performing on the Sting stage again, Rodney said, but would like to see the promoters get the show back to what it used to be before the violence of recent years.

If the promoters, the Isiah Laing-led Supreme Promoters, plan to hold the show in Portmore again they will have to convince the mayor that all precautions have been taken, that it will be violence-free and that the artistes will perform within a prescribed level of decorum.

“This incident (Saturday) should be deplored because whether you are a superstar, politician, police or ordinary citizen, you must exercise a sense of responsibility to prevent violence,” Lee said.

“It is time people begin to take a stand against indecency, profanity and criminal violence at public venues by artistes, especially at these concerts,” Lee added. “We have allowed such arrogant and distasteful behaviour to continue for too long and we must take a positive stand against these atrocities now.”

Supreme Promotions have said they will issue a statement on the incident today.

Although Jamworld is privately run, shows like Sting have to receive municipal approval. Up to now such approval for Portmore shows is granted by the St Catherine Parish Council, under whose broad geographic jurisdiction the municipality falls.

But with the new municipal law, George Lee’s council will have such responsibility once it has in place the appropriate staff.

“Next time it will not be business as usual for anyone who wants to use Jamworld, be it for Reggae concerts or otherwise,” Lee said. “We can do without nasty incidents like those in the society. We must set an example for decency and good order.”