Opposition Spokesperson on Culture, Creative Industries and Information, Nekeisha Burchell, is calling for Jamaica to fundamentally rethink how it regulates and structures its entertainment and creative economy sectors, arguing that the country continues to profit from entertainment culture globally while suppressing many of the people who create it locally.

Speaking during her Sectoral Debate contribution in Parliament, Burchell argued that Jamaica must move beyond a regulatory approach centred primarily on “locking off the dance” and instead build modern systems capable of supporting entertainment as a legitimate economic industry. “Entertainment is not disorder. It is a major part of the economy, tied to tourism, youth opportunity, employment, export value and national identity,” Burchell said. “We cannot continue celebrating dancehall globally while criminalising many of its economic spaces locally.”

Burchell argued that Jamaica’s marketed identity versus Jamaica’s regulatory reality remains deeply contradictory. “We market Jamaica globally through music, dancehall, nightlife, festivals and cultural energy while simultaneously placing many of the very practitioners who create that value into recurring conflict with fragmented regulatory systems,” she stated.

She said the issue extends far beyond formal stage shows and concerts. “Round robins, football competitions, birthday parties, nine nights, dead yards, community sound systems and local entertainment spaces are continuously being disrupted, restricted or shut down without a modern, fair and properly structured entertainment framework,” Burchell argued. “These are not simply gatherings. In many communities, they function as economic ecosystems where vendors, DJs, sound operators, cooks and taxi operators all earn a living, while young people socialise and communities come together.”

Burchell also referenced the recent visit by international influencer IShowSpeed, arguing that Jamaica demonstrated during his visit exactly how proud and organised the country can become when showcasing its culture to the world. “In the same way Jamaica organised itself to show off and show out for IShowSpeed, proudly introducing him to our music, our dance, our personalities, our language and our cultural energy, we must also be willing to create systems that allow ordinary Jamaicans to experience and earn from that same culture consistently,” she stated. “We cannot celebrate Jamaican culture when the cameras are rolling for international audiences and then suppress those same cultural spaces when the lights turn off.”

Burchell said many entertainers, promoters, sound system operators and event organisers continue facing uncertainty surrounding licensing, event approvals, noise restrictions and policing despite entertainment remaining one of Jamaica’s most globally recognisable industries. “The issue is no longer whether Jamaica recognises the need,” Burchell argued. “The issue is whether we are approaching entertainment infrastructure comprehensively and nationally.”

The Opposition Spokesperson also highlighted the economic barriers faced by Jamaican entertainers attempting to access international markets. “Our music travels more freely than many of our artists do,” Burchell said. “Jamaican music is played globally every single day, yet many entertainers still face repeated visa denials and barriers to accessing the very markets where their work is already generating value.”

She argued that Jamaica must begin having more serious bilateral discussions with international partners surrounding structured cultural mobility agreements and entertainment market access. “If Jamaica’s culture generates enormous global economic value, then the Jamaican creatives producing that value should not remain structurally blocked from participating fully in those opportunities,” Burchell stated. 

Burchell also broadened the discussion into the wider creative economy, arguing that Jamaica continues to export enormous cultural influence while failing to fully capture economic ownership and value. “Our music shapes international sounds. Our slang travels globally. Our dance styles are replicated internationally. Our aesthetics influence fashion and entertainment worldwide,” Burchell said. “Yet too often, Jamaica remains at the edge of the value chain rather than at the centre of ownership. We export influence, but we undercapture value.”

She stressed that intellectual property protection, royalties, creator education, digital monetisation, and ownership rights must now be treated as serious economic infrastructure. Burchell also emphasised that the People’s National Party has been proposing a $1 billion Creative Economy Support Fund, regional creative hubs, content studios, audiovisual training and structured support for young creators and creative entrepreneurs. “Investment in creative industries cannot be treated as charity or cultural goodwill,” Burchell stated. “It is a serious economic strategy. It is an employment strategy. It is an export strategy. It is a digital economy strategy.”

The MP further addressed the issue of Rastafari and ganja policy, arguing that Jamaica has often profited symbolically from Rastafarian culture globally while failing to fully structure protections and economic inclusion for the communities connected to it locally. “Rastafari is not merely an aesthetic exported through reggae music and tourism imagery,” she said. “It is a philosophy, a spiritual tradition, a political history and a way of life born from resistance, African consciousness and liberation.”

She also questioned whether the communities most affected by decades of ganja criminalisation are meaningfully participating in the emerging legal cannabis industry. “Too often, those now economically positioned to benefit from the cannabis industry are not the same communities that endured decades of criminalisation and exclusion under the old system,” Burchell stated. “The people who suffered most under criminalisation should not now be left at the back of the economic line.”