Patrick Roberts denies claim of gunfire at Ghetto Splash
Events manager Patrick Roberts has rubbished allegations made by veteran dancehall artiste Macka Diamond that shots were fired at the recently concluded Ghetto Splash Stage Show hosted in Waterhouse, St Andrew.
“We have never had issues with pickpockets, parking, carstealing, and nothing that usually occur at other events. We had over 60 community members as marshals and they would never let anything jeopardise this event because they want it to stay in the community,” he said.
He also said Macka Diamond should have contacted the production team if she had legitimate issues to discuss instead of going to the media .
“I left the venue at 2 p.m. the next day, so if you had a concern you should have called before you put out such a statement. Ten thousand persons turned out and there were no incidents because we had over 40 police officers, 20 security personnel, an ambulance, plus several marshals,” he said.
Macka Diamond had told THE STAR that she injured her ankle during a stampede at the annual free stage show.
“I twisted my ankle running from a stampede after shots were fired at the Ghetto Splash event. Mi did done perform and deh backstage a hold a vibe and a take pictures with the fans. I was sitting down on a chair when mi hear the shots fired,” she said.
MISUNDERSTANDING
However, Roberts said the disruption was a slight misunderstanding which was blown out of proportion by the deejay. “When Ding Dong was performing Gas, there is a part of the dance move where patrons run, and during that part of the song, some patrons thought it was a stampede, but it was merely a part of the dancing. Ghetto Splash was professionally executed, and I can’t fathom why Macka would do that,” he said. THE STAR made several attempts to get a follow-up comment from Macka Diamond, but calls to her phones went unanswered. Superintendent Arthur Brown, head of the St Andrew South Police Division, could not be reached for comment.