Adrian Frater, News Editor

Peter Tosh

Western Bureau:

On again, off again.

The Tribute to Peter Tosh concert which was sche-duled for this Saturday, in the reggae icon's hometown of Belmont, West-moreland, is off.

The annual show, which was absent for the last three years and has been plagued with venue woes, was cancelled after police declared the Belmont site unfit.

"It is turning out to be too much of a hassle, so I decided not to go any further with it," said promoter Worrell King, who has been staging the event since 1990.

For the first 14 years, the event was staged in Belmont, adjacent to the house where Tosh grew up. However, the show outgrew the venue and moved to the much bigger Independence Park.

Traffic congestion

In addition to the police declaring that the venue lacked proper parking facility and might create traffic congestion, King also cited differences with some of Tosh's relatives.

"There are some persons, who are hell-bent on creating a controversy out of the event," he said. The promoter said that at least two of Tosh's offspring are insisting that the show be held despite the stop-order.

"They are insisting that the show should be held in Belmont, in defiance of the police instruction, and I can't do that," King told The Gleaner.

"I have to work with the police because, as a promoter, I have my reputation to protect," he said.

In a bid to save the event, reggae legend Bunny Wailer, who is uncle to one of Tosh's son, intervened in the controversy, urging that the police's instruction be followed and endorsed an alternative venue, Independence Park, for the show.

Headline act

"Jah B (Bunny Wailer) tried to save the show by advising Tosh's siblings to go ahead with the switch back to Independence Park," said King.

"He even offered to join the cast of acts ... to come on board as the headline act."

King came up with the idea for the tribute show in honour of the reggae star who was murdered on September 11, 1987.