PORTLAND events promoter and sound system operator Michael ‘Sasa Fras’ Grant says multiple jobs can be created in that parish if government regulates the Night Noise Abatement Act.

Grant fears nightlife in Portland will be a thing of the past if changes are not made soon.

“Promoters are afraid to host outdoor events as the police here are exact and you end up losing,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Grant adds that even on weekends when patrons attend parties as late as 1:00 am, the 2:00 am lockoff time stipulated by the Noise Abatement Act, is still enforced by the police.

According to Grant, the sound system industry can generate over 20,000 jobs islandwide if the Act is modified.

“Although spending power is a challenge, people still party,” he said.

The Noise Abatement Act was implemented on March 26, 1997. Subsection (2) and section 5 stipulates, in part, that “no person shall, on any private premises or in any public place at any time of day or night, sing, or sound or play upon any musical or noisy instrument; or (b) operate or permit or cause to be operated, any loudspeaker, microphone or any other device for the amplification of sound, in such a manner that the sound is audible beyond a distance of one hundred metres from the source of such sound and is reasonably capable of causing annoyance to persons in the vicinity.”

The 47 year-old Grant operates the Portland Restaurant and Jerk Centre in Port Antonio, and also owns the Rock Away sound system. For him, music and food “just go together”.

Born in Port Antonio, Portland’s chief town, Grant says his love for the nightlife grew in his teens when he attended stage shows all over Jamaica.

“From a little youth going to dances, seeing the movements and the excitement, I told myself one day I would do this,” he recalled.

Grant began promoting shows in his early 20s but migrated to the United States soon after. Ten years later, he returned home and again donned his promoter’s hat, putting on events featuring deejays Papa San and Ninja Man.

He then established Rock Away followed by the restaurant.

Looking ahead, Grant plans to expand his eatery as well as “turning up” nightlife in Port Antonio. He currently hosts the weekly Rockaway Thursdays in the town.