The Editor, Sir:

Please allow me to respond to your story of December 17h in which the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewellyn blasted Jamaica's culture of silence.

Let me, in turn, blast the DPP, the justice system and the Government for such hypocrisy.

As a country, our actions and speeches are incongruent, and yet we expect harmony. While I agree that the citizens, even for their own protection, should cooperate with the justice system, the risk of doing so should not be totally borne by those cooperative citizens.

Helpless to protect

We have recently seen where the DPP, the police, the justice system and the Government could not protect some people, who allegedly informed about crime.

Judging from the situation in Gravel Heights, St Catherine, why would someone cooperate with the police? The only protection afforded those people was when they were being forced to leave as directed by those against whom they had allegedly informed.

Until the Government and its officers can put in place a system where the informers are protected, would-be informers will die or be given police protection to 'pack up and leave' and as such, critical information will never materialise.

Needing clearer vision

Can the DPP not understand why these persons would conclude that the risk is not worth it? Would the people of Gravel Heights not now be enjoying their homes had they just kept quiet?

If this is not clear to the DPP, then perhaps we need someone else with clearer vision and understanding of these simple linkages.

If the DPP wants something to speak about, then she should speak about how the system has failed these people and solutions being implemented to prevent a recurrence of the incident. Like most of those in power, the DPP wants her cake, having eaten it a few days earlier.

I am, etc.,

BRIAN THOMAS

brianpostbox@yahoo.com

Pennsylvania, USA

Via Go-Jamaica