To this end, the cluster has applied for an extension of the hours allowed for amplified entertainment under the Noise Abatement Act of 1997, more popularly known as the Night Noise Act. This would be in a specific area on the drive, from Kirlew's Hardware Store to Toyan Jerk Centre, which would in effect become an entertainment strip.

Director of the Negril Small Medium and Microenterprises Cluster, Clive Pringle, told The Sunday Gleaner that, through the Jamaica Recording Industry Association, they have asked the authorities to extend the cut-off time from 2 to 4 a.m. on weekends and from midnight to 2 a.m. on weekdays.

Co-operation from authorities

"Just like for Spring Break, ATI, Bob Marley Bash and so on, we are asking that it be exempt because of the impact that it has on the overall area and the business community as well," Pringle said.

"What we want is the cooperation to have the relationship we need with the authorities, so all of us are on the same page," Pringle added. "The point is, we are going to get Jamaica moving."

He asked, "What makes Negril move?" and quickly answered himself: "Entertainment. That's why they call it the reggae capital of the world."

However, that may be in jeopardy as he said "when promoters come here and find that they get locked off in the middle of the show they will go somewhere else".

It is not a matter, he clarified, of ensuring that the parties go on without concern for anyone else. "What we want is the Church, the hotel, the venue, everybody coexist in a community that we will understand basically how it thrives," Pringle said.

- Mel Cooke