Burchell urges new rules for creative sector, end to dance lock-offs

Opposition spokesperson on culture, creative industries and information Nekeisha Burchell wants a full reset of how Jamaica regulates entertainment and the wider creative economy.

In her first sectoral debate address in Parliament, she said the island earns worldwide from its cultural output yet still holds back many of the artists and producers who build that brand at home. Burchell urged the state to leave behind a rules-based approach built around shutting down dances and to put in place up-to-date frameworks that recognise entertainment as a real economic sector.

She told the House that Jamaica’s overseas marketing and its day-to-day regulation pull in opposite directions: the country pushes its music, culture and nightlife abroad, while home-grown talent still runs into red tape and restrictions.

Burchell pointed to the recent visit by international digital creator IShowSpeed as proof that officials and institutions can move fast, coordinate well and put culture on show for a global audience when the spotlight is on. That same pace of planning, funding and backing, she said, should reach local creatives and entertainment operators every month of the year—not only when a viral moment arrives.