KINGSTON, Jamaica  — Director of Public Prosecutions, Paula LLewellyn, says that Jamaicans need to get rid of the pervasive “informer fi dead” culture.

She made the comment this afternoon at the first comprehensive conference for witness care in Jamaica, being held at the Law Faculty of the University of the West Indies, Mona.

“In Jamaica there is a vibrant ‘informer fi dead’ culture and it permeates our communities, our streets and the very fabric of our society, especially in certain communities where you have socio- economic indicators where persons are not well endowed with education and opportunities in terms of jobs, and where you have gangs living in the community.”

She added that Jamaica’s music promotes the culture and potential witnesses have been psychologically sentenced to death in the songs of some prominent artistes.

LLewellyn encouraged people to be brave and “stand up in the fight to create a good justice system.” She made mention of a case where she received a credible death threat which she shrugged off, and urged other people to be as courageous “as we cannot yield to that sort of culture.”

Shenae Stewart