Glenroy Sinclair, Staff Reporter
THE GOVERNMENT has spent just over $1 million since January resettling threatened witnesses who were involved in criminal proceedings.
According to Shirley Byfield, information officer in the Ministry of National Security, most of the witnesses who have been resettled were given a small sum to start their own business or assisted in other ways to get on with their lives.
One of these witnesses, a 43-year-old woman who had gone on the programme two and a half years ago, says it has helped her to start a business and help her family.
She was the only witness to a brutal killing at a popular entertainment spot in Kingston in 1998. She had told the police what she witnessed and subsequently testified in court.
The alleged perpetrator was convicted and sentenced to hang. But it was the death of her brother that prompted her to tell the police what she had seen.
"I had a brother that I love dearly. One morning he left his house in Kingston for market and was shot and killed by gunmen. I know somebody must have seen what happened, but they did not talk. This is something that hurts and it gives pain. No matter what anybody say, they cannot feel the pain that I feel," she related.
She said she was prepared to go back again on the programme if she witnessed another murder, adding that she found the accommodation provided under the Witness Protection Programme to be good and that she and her dependents received their monthly supplies on time. Their medical expenses are also taken care of by the Government.
In his 2000/2001 Budget presentation, National Security Minister K.D. Knight said there were about 80 people being sheltered under the Witness Protection Programme, 98 per cent of whom are witnesses in murder trials.
"Between 1997 and June 2000, evidence provided by witnesses under the programme has resulted in some 60 convictions of criminals in serious charges, 60 death sentences, 32 life sentences, 22 other prison sentences," said Minister Knight.
Special cases
He explained that, while most persons are relocated in Jamaica, in some special cases persons are resettled in other Caribbean islands, the United States or Europe.
Scores of brutal murders in Jamaica have remained unsolved because of the unwillingness of witnesses to give information. The police have appealed to witnesses to come forward, but many shy away because they are afraid.
Mrs. Byfield explained that since the inception of the programme, the Government has not lost a witness who followed the guidelines set out under the programme. The Government said that it is prepared to protect a witness as long as it was necessary.
