Movado Free to perform in Guyana

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, September 11, 2009 - Jamaican reggae artist Mavado is now free to perform Guyana following a decision to lift a ban that was imposed on him because of his offensive lyrics. But the move has attracted some criticism.

In April last year, the singer whose real name is David Brooks was barred for a year and a half because of lyrics promoting gang violence and anti-gay sentiments.

Jamaican cultural officials reportedly lobbied for the ban to be lifted last month when Guyana's President Bharrat Jagdeo visited the Caribbean island.

With Mavado no longer a persona non grata, it's expected he will go ahead with a performance scheduled here for later this month.

But in a letter to the editor of the local Stabroek newspaper, Roxanne Myers of the Caribbean Coalition for Development and Reduction in Armed Violence; Vanda Radzik, Commissioner for the Women and Gender Equality Commission; Co-Chairperson of the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination, Joel Simpson; and Vidyaratha Kissoon, Commissioner of the Rights of the Child Commission, expressed their disapproval.