The lashing from Hurricane Ivan affected a number of entertainment functions which were scheduled for last weekend. The planned press conference (last Friday) to launch this year's activities to mark the death and birth of reggae superstar Peter Tosh was cancelled because of Ivan.
September 11 is the anniversary of the brutal murder of Tosh and usually marks the opening of a period of recollection of his history and impact. The period normally ends on October ninth, the anniversary of his birth.

This year would have marked the sixtieth anniversary of Tosh's birth, but one of the legacies of Ivan is that it may lead to the cancellation of the main event, the annual concert in Westmoreland.

Although indications are that it will not interfere with the annual symposium at the Mona Campus of the UWI, scheduled for October 9, the organisers of the concert are very doubtful whether it will go ahead.

"As it is now, I am not even sure what we are going to do," said Worrell King, promoter of the annual concert and a diehard Tosh fan. "People are just coming out of the trauma of a hurricane and to go to them and ask that they support a paying concert may seem heartless. While, on the other hand, people may want to go somewhere after the disaster."

Although he sees the concert as unlikely at this stage King is insisting that "something has to be done, if is even to string up a sound in Sav-La-Mar Square." King was speaking from his home in Dean's Valley, Westmoreland, where he had neither light nor water after the devastation of the hurricane.

Tosh's home in Belmont, Westmoreland, which he had planned to transform into the venue for the event, was hit even harder, although the family house remained intact and the mausoleum housing his remains untouched.

The plan was for a show featuring some of the new names following the same rebellious path as Tosh, including
Turbulence, Chizidek, Natty King, I Wayne, Abdel Wright, Jahmel, Taurus Riley and Isaac Kalumbu, a lecturer from the University of Michigan and a reggae artiste who will also be here for the symposium.

"We are going to have a meeting of the planning committee this week," said Denise Miller, another of the organisers of the annual concert. "It really depends on the situation in Belmont. I am not sure but we should know by the end of the week."

Tosh was murdered on the night of September 11, 1987 by
three intruders. Reports are that the three came into the singer's home demanding money, and when he refused he was shot and killed.

One man, Dennis "Leppo" Lobban, is serving time for the murder.

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