THE National Forensic Laboratory at Turkeyen, the first of its kind in Guyana, is scheduled to be commissioned on July 14, according to Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee.

Yesterday, at the ruling party’s press conference at Freedom House on Robb Street, Minister Rohee fielded questions on the status of the lab’s completion. He stressed that the lab is “ready to go”, and assured that the facility would not be a “white elephant”, but would service the needs of the Guyanese people.

Rohee said that more than 20 persons have already been recruited to work at the lab, following the placement of advertisements in the local dailies, their review by a panel, and their referral to the Public Service Commission.

Rohee added that, while the lab is not ready for full occupancy, staffers will base their operations from the Implementation Unit of the Citizen Security Programme (CSP) at Ogle, East Coast Demerara.

The $840M lab was launched under the CSP, which was initiated by the Government and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). This programme has three components: institutional modernisation of the Home Affairs Ministry; Community Action Component (CAC); and modernisation of the Guyana Police Force, which includes strengthening of its forensic capability.

A bill was laid in the National Assembly in 2013 to amend the Evidence Act to provide a legal person for the laboratory. The Evidence Bill, which was introduced by the Home Affairs Minister to the National Assembly, was voted down by the Parliamentary Opposition in June. Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, on December 13, re-tabled the Evidence (Amendment) Bill in the National Assembly, and it was passed by the National Assembly in January, allowing for the expansion of the category of evidence that can be admitted in court for legal proceedings.

The Bill states that the documents to which Section 43 of the Evidence Act applies will now include a certificate or report signed by an analyst who has examined or analysed, for example, a firearm, a poisonous substance, human blood, bone or tissue, and a certificate would be issued by the National Forensic Lab.

(Vanessa Narine)