promoter Mr. Choy Aming for depriving young people of a good time and future benefits.

North Village Community Club president Mr. Rudolph Hollis told The Royal Gazette the club lost more than $2,000 after reggae group Jah Life failed to show up for a contest last month.

Jah Life was scheduled to perform July 30 and 31 at the club's field at Bernard Park along with other sound-system music groups.

Proceeds from the $15 event were to go to the club and the contest winners were to be paid $1,000.

But less than 30 people showed up for the event when they discovered Jah Life had cancelled at the last minute and played at The Clay House Inn instead.

Mr. Hollis claimed Clay House owner Mr. Aming knew Jah Life was scheduled to perform in the contest, but still recruited the group to play at his night club on the same nights.

Mr. Aming could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Mr. Hollis said: "We went through all the necessary channels to make sure the show went well.

"However, Jah Life, decided to play at Clay House. When asked why they backed down, they said they never had a contract with us.

"But all of our groups were dealt with by a "gentleman's agreement''. We held meetings regularly and the groups that attended committed themselves to play at the contest on July 30 and 31.'' Mr. Hollis said because Jah Life did not show up, attendance was extremely poor.

"There were about 30 people who were in attendance,'' he said. "Because of that, we dropped the ticket price from $15 to $5.

"Most people were at Clay House so the price drop did not make a difference, we then started letting people in for free.'' Mr. Hollis also said he believed young people need to be educated about where they spend their money when looking for night life.

When the North Village Community Club put on a function there were two purposes, he noted.

"Firstly, we want to provide entertainment for the young people, and secondly we want to raise money for the North Village Community Club programme,'' Mr.

Hollis said.

"Young people need to take interest in where their money is going when they pay for entertainment.

"They need to be educated and given the right information about where to spend their money.

"When the club puts on a show, the money is put back into the community to help the young people.

"I can't blame young people because they don't think in those terms, but they need to.'' Mr. Hollis added that many people bring in music for their own personal gain.

"What happened to us was not right,'' he said. "Jah Life knew they had to play. We ended up losing around $2,000.'' Mr. Hollis said most of the other groups in the contest acted in a professional manner. In a message to sound clash groups, Mr. Hollis said: "If these groups want people to support them and respect them they need to be "straight up''.

But when contacted last night, Jah Life member Mr. Devario Hassell said the group never agreed to perform in the contest.

Mr. Hassell said they attended two preliminary meetings before the contest dates were set.

But, he said, "we never signed a contract or agreed to anything on paper''.

Jah Life was also invited to play at Clay House before the contest, Mr.

Hassell added.

"We were offered a better thing to do at (Clay House) at Cup Match so we took that.

Noting that Jah Life has performed in sound clashes in the past, Mr. Hassell said: "We don't acknowledge gentleman's agreements. We're professionals. We have signed contracts and some of the money paid up front''.

He also said the group was never contacted by the North Village Community Club for not showing up.