Gov’t to Reintroduce Centralised Permit System for Entertainment Events

The Government is looking to reintroduce a centralised permit system for entertainment events held islandwide.

Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange, has announced plans to re-establish the ‘One Stop Shop’ system to streamline the process of securing permits.

The initiative will enable promoters and organisations staging events to submit a single, centralised application, which will then be routed to the relevant regulatory agencies.

Ms. Grange made the announcement during the recent contract signing between the Ministry and Guardian Life Limited for the Group Health Insurance component of the Jamaica Entertainers and Creatives Insurance Plan. The signing took place at the Ministry’s office in Kingston.

She explained that the one-stop-shop system was initially piloted during the COVID-19 pandemic, when an online platform was introduced to centralise applications and enhance coordination among regulatory agencies.

“If you put on an event, you have to pay the Jamaica Association of Composers, Authors and Publishers (JACAP), you have to pay the [Municipal Corporations], you have to get permission from the police, there is JAMMS (Jamaica Music Society)… [Jamaica Fire Brigade]… etcetera.

“During COVID, we had set up a structure online where the information will come to us and the various entities were also online, and we were able to manage the process so that permission will be granted online coming to one central location. So, we are going to re-establish the One Stop Shop,” she said.

Ms. Grange advised that discussions are under way with a service provider to assist in developing the new mechanism.

“I’m in discussions with WiPay… to conduct research and to examine all the touch points with the existing technologies to formulate a single window for entertainment and creative enterprises,” she further informed.

“In so doing, like the pilot programme which we did during COVID, persons or organisations seeking to put on an event can make a single application that will see requests for permits channelled through the Municipal Corporation to the right agencies – to the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Ministry of Local Government [and Community Development] and all the other entities, to ensure a smooth way of getting your permits, and that is very, very important,” Ms. Grange said.

The Minister added that the initiative will enhance operational efficiency across the entertainment and creative industries, while simplifying the event approval process for stakeholders.