I pressured the Premier — YOLO Promoter
Steve Parillon of YOLO Promotions has defended Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley’s support for his Vybz Kartel concert next year, revealing that he pressured Dr Wheatley into funding the endeavour.
Parillon made this disclosure during an interview with Cathy Richards on JTV, during which he defended the government’s financial backing of the event.
The event promoter clarified that the government contributed $220,000 towards the event, not $250,000 as previously reported. “I wish it was $250,000, but it’s $220,000,” he said during the interview.
The YOLO Promotions boss stressed that the event, headlined by renowned dancehall artiste Vybz Kartel, would significantly benefit the territory. “When this event happens, and all the taxis, hotels, and everyone is making money from this event, that is where you see the investment reap,” Parillon explained.
Despite the public outcry about the funding, with many citing that the territory’s financial resources could be better spent on infrastructure such as roads and schools, Parillon was adamant in defending the Premier’s decision. “I don’t want people to think this is the Premier’s idea. It was not the Premier’s idea. I persuaded the Premier, you understand? I persuaded him. I pressured him.” Parillon said.
Addressing critics who claim the government is spending excessively on entertainment amidst pressing issues, Parillon argued that the territory has a history of spending on major events and projects. “When hasn’t this country needed something, and all kinds of things got done, when we bought a plane for $7.2 million, there was nothing that needed to be done in this country?” Parillon said, referring to the 2016 BVI Airways scandal that rocked the previous NDP government.
He further explained that Dr Wheatley was hesitant but ultimately saw the potential benefits of the concert for the territory. “All the Premier did, he saw something in this event that he sees as an investment for the country, and he sponsored the event just like he has done other events here in the country,” Parillon added. He singled out the One VI Music Festival and VI Icon Awards as other events sponsored by the Premier.
Can Kartel go for two hours?
In the meantime, Parillon also addressed concerns about Vybz Kartel’s health and whether he can deliver on a contracted two-hour performance, especially since the artiste now has the debilitating Graves’ disease after being imprisoned in Jamaica for more than a decade.
However, Parillon assured that Kartel is in good physical condition, noting his energy during meetings and his eagerness to perform. “He had more energy. I was tired,” Parillon said about partying with the self-proclaimed ‘World Boss’ recently. “He had more energy than me. People are seeing the pictures and the videos I put on. They’re like, ‘Kartel is looking better’.”
The concert is set to attract visitors from various islands, including the US Virgin Islands, St Martin, and Antigua, which Parillon sees as an opportunity to boost the local economy. Parillon urged residents to give the event a chance despite the public’s concerns.
“I know we’re feisty around here, and we feel like if we feel a way, we need to act upon it right away. Sometimes we need to give things a chance,” he said. “Any human being can be wrong. And the worst thing you want to do is be one of those persons out there pushing up and then have to turn around and be saying, ‘My, this was a big thing for the BVI’. You don’t want to be that person, right?”
Copyright 2024 BVI News, Media Expressions Limited. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.
Man give away the country for 4 vip passes #clown
https://www.bvibeacon.com/virgin-gorda-man-dies-after-finding-clinic-closed/
Sing to tune of Mighty shadow ..yuh looking for Horn:
Mr Premier
I have something I want to declare
About a situation
I think need immediate attention
Health care good ? No
Infrastructure good ? No
You looking for scorn , plenty plenty scorn
You looking for scorn , the people will scorn you
Why you want to throw party ? Govt got no Money
Roads them need repair , you act like you don’t care
You think its like so it does work
The people vex I wish you good luck
You looking for scorn ,plenty plenty scorn
You looking for scorn , the people will scorn you
Deputy tell you .. this ain’t no good plan
Rhymer say.. think about the common man
But you sign on the line for the dancehall star
Forget the budget you raising the bar
Education good ? no
Electricity good ? no
East to west road full of pot hole
But you only think Yolo
You looking for scorn plenty plenty scorn ,
You looking for scorn , the people will scorn you
Why you want big party? Gov got no money
You have nothing to gain
See how your public complain
You looking for scorn , plenty plenty scorn
You looking for scorn the people will scorn you.
The people upset say you causing dismay
Throwing big party while the Island decay
You looking for scorn , plenty plenty scorn
You looking for scorn the people will scorn you.
You could only pressure weak people if you have something holding over their head .
All access and a pboto opp point…once you pointing you a wiinner
LOL…THAT’S ALL THERE IS TO IT
LOL…THAT’S ALL THERE IS TO IT
Well if Steve could pressure him into doing what he wants then I do not trust this man to negotiate anything for our country. If he can’t handle little Steve how could he handle the UK?
MAKING MONEY OFF THE BACKS OF FOOLS AND CRIMINALS
Evidence of the weakness of the Premier. No Confidence? The Premier has no authority to give away the public’s money without approval by the Cabinet. Without some debate or notice in the House. It is not his money. It is not his bank account. He needs to be held to account. The COI begged for mechanisms to be put in place to prevent giveaways like this. Good that the UK did not yet lift the Order in Council. They know your kind very well. After all, they owned you for hundreds of years. Sad but true. Not everyone behaves like this but they know the premier’s type very well. He seems to have acted beyond his powers. This is breach of trust. He should meet the same fate as the others who have been accused of the same thing.
How many more giveaways that we the people do not know about. How much more money has been passed under the table that we do not know about. To the ministers who sit on the side of the government, shame on any of you who will not stand up against this!! That will mean you got some under table money too.
IMPEACH HIM
He needs to explain to the people of the BVI how the government will recoup the investment plus a profit on the investment.
$222,000…..didn’t he have the $$ to put on the table? What’s Steve’s cut?
This Premier, and his Government gets away with this stuff all the time because we let them! We talk, and talk, and talk for a few weeks, and then we go onto other things. This Premier knows that if he just weathers the initial storm, there is nobody that is going to do a damn thing to stop him!
Congratulations to all of us in the BVI – We all criticize the Premier, yet it is us, the people, that are really the feckless fools in this equation!
So Steve, a singular individual convince him to invest in a concert and he invest $220,000. At the same time, the whole country bawling out for him to stop using public money to invest in these events and he ignores! Ayo can’t see what right infront so eyes!
And the goose will come home later after the millennials and younger celebrate a criminal, we will have more emulation of gangster and criminals, more shootings and drug smuggler, you can’t tell me that from this man deportment he would bring anything positive to the youths with all that tattoo in he face, when you aspire to such deportment socially and cosmetically just imagine the profiling by police abroad as you travel to places like the USA, but don’t worry that future criminal youth yolo is nurturing will get him in his old age when he sitting on his gallery in a rocking chair with his walking stick. And I see the same Andrew Fahie mentality in premiere Wheatley, defying all advise to please a miniscule sector of criminals parading as investors or good citizens, people usually associate with their kind.
Mouth open. Story jump out. Steve is trying to take the blows off the Premier but he is actually making it worse. Anybody could just pressure the Premier and they get big money? No wonder Claude start up again. You go Claude! Chi-Ching!
You are such an idiot!
Not Steve having to be the scape goat to distract, but guess what, it still backfires cause if YOU could pressure the Premier so easy but the WHOLE COUNTRY cant get him to do the right thing, i begs bigger questions…..well sah. THE BEE WEE EYE IS NOT A REAL PLACE>
Why this immature bu**oon would say that about the Premier what’s done is done, just refer to the other shows in the past that were a success.
This just confirms what most were and are saying all along. A lil Child in a Man’s Body. Can’t the BVI do better than this? This Boy needs to be sent Home to play with his Marbles. That would be the best thing to happen to these Virgin Islands. Well. The Prophet said He won’t be there for long so let’s hope the time has now come. A real Jack Do**ey!!!!
There are 5 votes in cabinet and 2 already came out to say they do not support this. Does this mean Vincent (the VG rep whose clinic is in desperate need of financing) and Sharie (who said she does not have enough money for education) support this? What is also concerning is that the promoter said he is a Teacher and his students were praising him for signing with Kartel. We are in deep trouble folks!
Pressure him to pay civil servants their increment please.
This is such a weak attempt at damage control. Wake up BVI, we are doomed if we don’t stand against this nonsense. The Premier alone cannot determine our fate.
Steve don’t have access to the Treasury, our Premier does. Steve trying to protect the Premier but all he does was tied up the Premier more. Clo*ns
In the first place this artist has a criminal record, why is the BVI letting in someone like this that spent years in jail for murder? YOLO Promotions you could have looked for other sponsors but you knew that most businesses won’t sponsor someone like Vybz Kartel because he has a criminal record so you went straight to the clo*n Premier because you knew he is use to using the tax payer’s money like it’s his. Parillon even if you happen to take in $220,000.00 the BVI government will still lose. Natalio Wheatley you are one big l**ser, since all this parting is good for tourist why don’t you tell the people how much money you made from your big concert. THIS PREMIER NEEDS TO BE STOPED HE IS NOT ABOVE THE LAW. UK PLEASE HELP SAVE US.
The UK is not interested in saving a damn soul on this island. When we needed saving after Irma and Maria, natural disasters, we got no help. The Crowned Prince, now King, visited us and didn’t bring 50,000 pounds with him. Yes there was the loan guarantee, but that was us saving ourselves. The message was clear. If you need money, I will back a loan for you. Save yourselves.
\It is amazing how all of a sudden we think they will ride in one their white horses to save us. Even if they ride in, trust it must be for them, not us. What have they given us other than a prison? Oh, yeah. I forgot. The brought thousands of bags to put the dead in. They would have helped us pick up he dead bodies, but the dead roads, houses and public buildings etc. We were on our own. Get a life with that UK save us crap. We have to save ourselves.
Trust me the premier didnt need much pressure once it’s a party that leads youths astray and entertains … with skimpy dressed women, he good
This is madness yes!
Bring on the vote of no confidence
weak is the keyword / the ministers on the government side is programmed to use uk / the governor and commissioner as scapegoats / well don’t talk about the set of wannabe opposition leader and his ascioatates , they all doing the dame thing / which is nothing except to holler out our slave masters and the coi is causing retardation / and to some extrnt he may have a point , ( now is puff daddy *stevie* could * pressure * our master wheatley then that alone is saying that these wannabe opposition isn’t focused on looking out for the best interest of their people and their country, and we shouldn’t be surprised / the last election revealed that they ain’t really together , but just doing an acting job on their people a** the fight for that top position/ even the canary on his yello site (aka)throne looking power too / and me pathner csc ( aka ) city slicker , has bounced back , looki g for a piece of the action and reclaim his status in society as puff diddy claudie with some well polished skillz to blow our minds , just check out his famous *smile* to touch that soft spot in our hearts / in our minds and our souls
Pressured ! Weakling nonsense. I strong leader cannot pressured into doing the wrong, unpopular thing(s). The premier is behaving as if the people, the taxpayers money is his and he is accountable only to himself. But Election Day, the day of reckoning is coming and soon. A promising future squandered by bull-headedness. The premier is behaving as a Peter principled candidate, ie, promoting to a level of incompetence. The guy is so less and even don’t know how take care of his district . He is following the mole,ie, the shoemaker has the worst looking shoes , the mechanic has the worst running car,,the carpenter has the worst looking house.
Moreover, if tge Premier were a strong, effective, and experienced leader, the promoter could have beg and pressure all he wanted until the cows come home, the answer would have no can do. Instead he behave like a wet noodle. Embarrassing. The Premier should rescind the deal but he does not have the stones to do it. Concert promoting should be the province of the private sector , not government. His opponents in D-7 us licking their chops, measuring the drapes.
First of all I am not a friend of YOLO nor am I a friend of the Premier but I think the general population are in their feelings and missing the point.
Don’t quote me but I read the Premier made it known there is/was funding available for Entertainment Tourism. Steve as a young Virgin Islander is obviously trying and we should give him some support because he actually does have creditability and has pulled off major successful events like this. As a Virgin Islander I applaud the Premier for giving the young group an up because sometimes we all just need a little help to achieve Big things. If the budget is there to help why not help the youths. That’s the thing with us blacks we jump on the band wagon when it’s too late.
With that said, the Premier now needs to get the Tourist Board fired up to make this as successful as it could be. For those saying bad timing it’s the best timing the artist is hott and has a huge following and perhaps who don’t know can’t go into the US so we if we do this correct can get travelers as far as NYC, ATL, FL coming to our event. Plan and prepare and partner. WE NEED TO UNITE.
Get the ferries, hotels, bnb’s on deck. Offer specials, co-ordinate with USVI on accommodation if we are anticipating a SELL OFF. Get clearance for late ferries, in the past we had a 9pm ferry from RED HOOK get that in que. With preparation I see this really being something big but we got to unite and see the bigger picture. Where is the so called BVILOVE. We are the only Caribbean island that is only Patriotic when we are Winning….so sad.
Parillon and the crew much respect for being resilient and I am rooting for a successful event cause once you win we as a Country win…..Big Up.
So to some up your argument:
a) A young belonger is behind it so we must suspend all critical thinking, due process and weighing of priorities to support it
b) It’s already decided so all of us, even though we had no say in this debacle are now responsible for working hard to ensure it’s success
This is wrong on every level, any attempt to justify it can only come from someone involved with or benefiting from this decision or lacking in critical thinking.
1. The artist is as unsavory as you can get and his music is literally toxic to youth culture
2. Simple math will show that it is impossible for this even to turn a profit
3. All the risk is on the tax payers
4. It’s not clear how any revenue (not going to even contemplate profit) will be split between the promotors and the government.
5. The money appears to have been committed without going through the proper legal and budgetary process.
6. The idea that Natalio could pressured to spend 200K for concert shows that he is unfit for the job. Especially on the back of a $20M budgetary error
Things could be so much better in the BVI. There is so much money, we should have first class infrastructure. Full employment and a proper social safety net. But we are wasteful to the extreme.
Boss get your mother s***t go fish u guys so f**kin selfish
What an ego! I pressured him! There should be some way of counting the visitors for this event comming in and estimating how much each would spend to see if these events are worth it from a government stand point.
My suspession is if these events were profitable the promoters would not need help. If you call yourself a promoter you should have some cash on hand or the where with all to get it from a bank.
SO this man can pressure the premier into something, but he is resilient when the UK pressure him into improving transparency and good governance
CLOCK ITTTTTT
How much did Sl**ande pay you to say this, or was it his $10,000 a month spin doctor ?
waste of money, showande is worse than andrew
Tattoo send A F and now he tell N W my God send help I am VIP but I glad I never vote for N W, he needs to go home and mind his … family
Kartel is entirely to popular music to good and catchy for this to fail. I already spoke to people on other island even in the stated who have fam in VI. People flying down you best believe.
@SB Great. Then YOLO should foot the bill, the ENTIRE bill. No reason for our tax money to subsidize it.
we talking about another version
of the rodeo game ❓️ , it’s really funny how when ( NOEL LLOYD was struggling with his business the government of that time NEVER lift a finger to assist him , instead he was labeled ( CRAZY ) AND ITS AFTER HE DIED WE START HEARING ALL HE HAD DONE FOR THIS COUNTRY BY THESE SET OF HYPOCRITES , WHO CHANGED THEIR SING AND RENAMED HIM A HERO ( HELPING
OUT NOEL WOULD OF BEEN A BETTER IDEA ) AT THAT TIME COMPARE TO SPONSORING VYBS KARTEL AT THIS TIME BY THIS PRESENT GOVERNMENT , THATS ALL AM SAYING . THERE SEEMS TO BE A BIGGER GAME GOING JONE HERE REMEMBER THEONE WITH THOSE ( SOPHISTICATED
BARGES ) YHIS LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER VERSION OF THE POWERS THAT BE / BUT THE BRITS ARE VERY CUNNING AND THEY GOT UP THEIR RADAR / SO WE WILL ALL SEE WHO IS WHO , SOONER OR LATER
The VIP gonna pay for this in the next election….
By then he will be fully pensionable under the greedy bill system. He doesn’t care. We rewarded his poor performance by re-electing him a second time. Now we have to pay him for life.
Let’s have election next week!
What bufoonery am i reading here this evening. So it looks as if the Virgin Island’s Premier need his head examined. How can this dude pressure Premier Wheatley to hand over such large sum of money without any type of accountability. I wonder what was said to the Accountant General and shouldn’t such requests have at least two or more dignatures for it to go through? Well sah, i am in dire need for some money, at least $15K to settle my medical bills, loan and credit card bills. Perhaps, i can pressure the Premier to settle them for me. It looks like Premier loves pressure so Monday morning i’ll go to his office and pressure him. Them say pressure burst pipe so let me be fast about it. Mehn, Premier acting like a total nincompoop or is it his brain still on vacation.
Are we sure that our Premier isn’t sufferring from some type of cognitive disorder? I am not trying to be funny or pass judgement on him, but perhaps there’s something going on with him that even the Government Ministers are unaware of. Its as if the Premier is being operated like a toy and every Tom, Dick and Yolo winds, spins and points him whenever or wherever they please. I am now very concerned for our Premier because he isn’t operating as a normal person should. When was the last time our Premier got a full physical from head to toe. Its probably time he took some time off and get some rest, relaxation and rejuvenation. People of the Virgin Islands i believe its time we fast and pray for this country, our Government and especially our Premier. It seems our Premier is under a spell. He isn’t operating normal and he requires HELP fast before we all go down the hole he has led this country to. The Ministers of Government are all sitting there with their hands folded and lips purse as if they too are in oblivion. Everybody sees it but nobody saying anything but its time we come out of this darkness before we all break our necks. Please note i am not saying our Premier has a mental problem, but what i am saying is that something profound has taken hold of him and he isn’t operating in the best interest of the citizens of the Virgin Islands or himself. If you take a good look at him and dig deeper. Woke people will see there’s clearly something significantly wrong with him.He isn’t operating under his own strength. Something or someone has taken control of him.He needs help NOW! I hope and pray by God’s grace our Premier will come out of this darkness soon. May God bless these Virgin Islands and all the people who make it their home. Lets pray for our Premier, the Governor, Cabinet, Civil Servants and the Opposition and the ppl of the VI(UK)
Wow. Leaders so ra ssd ily lm ed astray in 2024? Andrew hetting sucked in by fake cartel. Now this Clown. Shame
Some one finally confirm my statement that the Premier is playing Marbles.
If every business knew there is that type of money available everyone will pressure & befriend the premier.
Getting up to speed with cannabis legalization would draw in many more tourist every year.
Back in the days, this man allegedly almost got arrested , Police asked him what he name was ?? and this clown refused to give he real name to the police , talking bout , he has a new name ,that he changed his name to a new African king of the jungle name, it was after the police warned and threatened to arrest him that he gave his proper name , hahahaha
Oh shut up! Premiere Wheatley can do anything, with greedy bill and guaranteed pension and emulument he don’t have to care about the BVI he wrecked into a ghetto.
Amazing that someone with no money no society status can pressure the premier and make him spend $220k of the people money. Well. Make way for the ghetto guls then cause I sure them can pressure some money out of him too.
Please pressure him to outfit the high-school classroom with AC…you know teachers and kids are burning up behind there in the new building.. please pressure him apply it Steve I believe in you!!
Thats not good. I was in support of this event, don’t like those words. 7Seems like intimidate, threatened the Premier, I think The Premier should have invoke Dirks as his PR and contact person who lazer with him..
I hope this contract can be canceled and we get our money back after the vote of no confidence on Friday
Look at this f**l bragging about pressuring the premier. I wondering if he lives here or he just oblivious to the plights of the people. You should be pressuring the government to fix our infrastructure. Our schools, healthcare, police and providing essential services for our sister islands. No you want it to go jump up and get drunk and high. This has not benefit to the country. Please pitch your ideas to said benefactors and see what they give.