Contributed - Jah Cure

Leighton Levy, Star Writer

Jah Cure's court hearing today should not affect the entertainer's ability to travel to St Maarten tomorrow for aperformance on Wednesday night.

The 32-year-old singer, who has been out on parole since July 2007 after serving eight years on a rape conviction, was arrested last Thursday during a police spot check along Dunrobin Avenue in Kingston. The police allege that two rolled marijuana cigarettes were found in an ashtray in the car and the singer was subsequently charged with possession of marijuana.

Jah Cure, born Siccature Alc**k, was released on $10,000 bail and is to appear before a judge in Half-Way Tree today. THE STAR is being told, however, that the singer will be in St Maarten in time to perform.

"Based on what I know, he is going," said Jah Cure's publicist, Robert Nesta Morgan, yesterday. "It's not like it's a major felony. It's a misdemeanour; it was only a couple of ounces of ganja." Morgan said he doesn't believe the singer's arrest would be considered a violation of his parole and his travel documents have not been confiscated by the authorities.

Still, news of the arrest has caused jitters in St Maarten where Jah Cure is down to perform as the headline act for Reggae Explosion II. Beenie Man and Busy Signal are also slated to perform on the show.

"There is a lot of concern on my part," said the concert's promoter Clarence Darby, who added that Jah Cure is set to arrive in St Maarten tomorrow afternoon. Darby explained that Reggae Explosion II is perhaps the most highly anticipated concert in St Maarten for the carnival season. At least three shows have been cancelled so far because of a lack of sponsorship, Darby explained, so everybody is looking forward to Wednesday night's show.

Reggae and dancehall music are extremely popular in St Maarten, the tiny Dutch colony where several thousand Jamaicans live and work. Jah Cure's no-show would be a disaster. "If he doesn't come, it is going to destroy me," Darby said. "He is the headliner of the show and he was being promoted as performing on the show for the last three months."

Word out of St Maarten is a popular talk-show host has been talking up a storm, saying that Jah Cure has been locked up and will not be travelling to St Maarten in time for the show, talk that is making the promoter nervous.