Latest update February 20th, 2025 12:39 PM
No immediate DNA testing facilities at Forensic Lab – Rohee
Installation of equipment for the forensic laboratory at Turkeyen should be completed by October, but DNA testing will not be incorporated just yet.
Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee, made this disclosure on Thursday, following a media briefing at the Home Affairs Ministry Conference Room.
Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee
“The physical work of the building is virtually complete; what is being done now is the installation of equipment,” Rohee said.
“Equipment is being installed by a team from Barbados. The security features of the lab are also being installed. We have been given the assurance that by the third week of October, this highly technical work will be completed.”
He said that laboratory employees have already been hired and the staffers will sign their contracts soon.
The Home Affairs Minister said that the Office of the President has asked that there be capacity in the laboratory for DNA testing. However, this will be done after other work is completed.
“What we have decided to do is complete what we have set out to do in accordance with the plan for the completion of the lab, because we don’t want to delay, further, the commissioning of the lab. We will complete what we have started, and on completion of this, we will then move to the next stage, so we will then look at ways and means of incorporating DNA testing into the functioning of the lab.”
Local detectives have been continuously hampered by the absence of DNA testing facilities. They have had to send samples overseas at prohibitive cost and have also had to endure lengthy delays in obtaining results.
The Force first used DNA testing in the still-unsolved 1993 murder of security guard Monica Reece. DNA testing was also used to identify the remains of the Lindo Creek massacre victims and in the murder of bank clerk, Sheema Mangar.
In December, 2012, Government signed a $450M contract with Courtney Benn Contracting Services Limited for the construction of the forensic laboratory at the University of Guyana, Turkeyen Campus.
The project is funded by the Inter American Development Bank in partnership with the Guyana Government.
On December 14, 2012, a US$1.688 M contract was signed for the supply of equipment for the laboratory.
Law enforcement officials also appear optimistic that the laboratory will greatly enhance the investigative capabilities of the Guyana Police Force.
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