The Ministry of Health has denied pulling a safe sex ad done by sinjay Konshens for local television.

Rumours had begun circulating that the ad was pulled from television following the release of the video for a song called Clap Dat - a collaboration with deejay Leftside.

But Rushane Reid, a representative from the ministry's HIV Prevention programme, denied the rumours. "The ad was never pulled from the airwaves. The matter with Konshens is not an issue for us. It's an issue for the public. We still have the ad, it's a good one and we intend to use it again," she told THE STAR.

The video which showed naked women dancing in an exotic club was pulled from YouTube, following complaints by viewers of its eye-popping contents. There were also mixed sentiments of Konshen's role in the exotic video and song.

A release was sent by an advocacy group to our news team expressing what it thought was a good move by the ministry in removing the commercial.

Obscene material

The release stated: "The Citizens Advocacy Group praises YouTube (Google) for restricting the music video...and for the Ministry of Health and its affiliates pulling the Safe Sex Campaign bearing the face of Konshens. It was the prerogative of Leftside and Konshens to expose children to obscene material like this. The Citizens Advocacy Group will, however, not tolerate anyone using pornographic material to corrupt impressionable minds."

Contacted about the speculations that the ad was pulled, Konshen's manager Miguel said, "I am not aware of that. This is the first time I am hearing, nobody called and reported that to us. I don't really watch tv so I wouldn't know, but If the ad was pulled I think it is a slap in the face if they didn't contact the artiste or the office to advise us why."

A representative from TVJ's programmes department said the ad was no longer in rotation because the contract had ended, while efforts to speak to CVM were futile.

Both artistes have since spoken out in defence of the video following immense scrutiny by the public.