Letter of the Day | Youth don’t need lip service, they need a working system

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Gatekeeping, in its simplest definition, is the act of controlling access to resources, information, and opportunities. However, in Jamaica, gatekeeping has morphed into a weapon of systemic oppression. It has been misused and misinterpreted to cover for nepotism, cronyism, and bureaucratic inefficiency; keeping our most productive youth stranded at the margins.

I have listened to countless young Jamaicans across communities and institutions express the same frustration: the system is not designed for them to win. Despite their degrees, discipline, and drive, too many feel like they are fighting an invisible war, one where outdated systems, administrative bottlenecks, and procedural delays serve as the gatekeepers to their success.

It means that despite working two or three jobs, a young person still cannot own a home because their land title has not been processed. They cannot drive a vehicle they are proud of because the required documents from government agencies are lost in a black hole of bureaucracy.

This is gatekeeping repackaged as systemic failure, and is holding our youth hostage. Some may argue that there have been projects, initiatives, and summits aimed at youth development. But after the fanfare, ribbon-cuttings, and final reports are submitted, the system remains untouched. The same archaic frameworks continue to choke progress. The documents still take forever. The emails go unanswered. The processes remain painfully slow.

Young people are are not lazy or not entitled. They are exhausted. And increasingly they are leaving. They are turning to side hustles, remote work, and self-employment; not because they lack patriotism, but because the system does not offer the structural support to match their ambition.

If we do not urgently address these blockades, we will continue to witness a brain drain, a rise in informal economic activity, and an ageing, out-of-touch workforce that cannot keep pace with the demands of a globalised economy.

The youth are not asking for handouts. They are simply asking for a system that works; for a process that makes sense; for a society that does not punish them for being young, qualified, and driven.

We need functional digitisation, accountability for delays, and real-time service delivery. We must replace legacy systems that no longer serve us and retire the mindset that ‘things just take time’ when, in fact, things take leadership. Jamaica’s young people are not asking for miracles; they are asking for movement. Let us not keep them waiting.

LEROY FEARON JR