Georgetown : Government in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), today took a bold step that will bring Guyana’s forensic capability on par with those in the developed world.
A contract of approximately $450M was signed between the Ministry of Home Affairs and Courtney Benn Contracting Services for the construction of the state-of-the art building that will house the country’s first Forensic Laboratory on the precincts of the University of Guyana (UG).
This project falls under the Citizens’ Security Programme (CSP) that was initiated between Government and the IDB. This programme has three components; institutional modernisation of the Home Affairs Ministry, Community Action Component (CAC) and modernisation of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) (which includes the strengthening of forensic capability).
The Minister said that the lab will allow for a high level of confidentiality, credibility and integrity between law enforcement agencies and the public. He noted that the decision to locate the lab on the grounds of the university took into account the integrity of the results that will be produced by the facility.
IDB Country Representative, Marco Nicola said that the Bank is pleased with the overall implementation of the project.
“Security is one of the most important indicators of a country’s business climate and competitiveness, so this project is a key contributor to the competitiveness pillar of the bank’s country strategy for Guyana that covers the period 2008 to 2012,” Nicola said.
Police Commissioner, Henry Greene said that the advent of a forensic laboratory in Guyana “is a dream come true for the GPF.”
He explained, today the fight against crime depends heavily on forensic science such as DNA testing, not just the police and witnesses.
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