–contracts awarded to Int’l Pharmaceutical Agency, Pressy Enterprise
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) has reportedly pumped $60M into procuring equipment and supplies for the Guyana Police Force and the Forensic Laboratory, now nearing completion.

A Home Affairs Ministry press statement yesterday said that, under the National Competitive Bidding (NCB) process, the International Pharmaceutical Agency (Guy) Limited of Lot 22 ‘B’ Camp Street, Georgetown was awarded a contract to supply and deliver items to the Forensic Laboratory as follows:

Lot 1: 150 items of small apparatus and glassware, such as beakers, test tubes, pipettes and storage containers, among other items, to the sum of Gy$39,616,509.

Lot 2: 248 items of consumables and chemicals, including chemicals, reagents, acids and solutions, to the sum of Gy $10,174,812.

These items are needed to perform daily analysis, testing and sampling.

Additionally, Pressy Enterprise of Cowan and Parade Streets, Kingston, Georgetown was awarded a contract to procure photographic and forensic equipment for the Guyana Police Force to the sum of Gy$15,024,000.

In September 2010, the sod was turned for construction of the Forensic Laboratory, located within the precincts of the University of Guyana on Dennis Street, Sophia.

The lab is a result of an agreement signed between the Government of Guyana and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), as part of the institutional strengthening component of the Citizen Security Programme (CSP).

The MoHA release stated, that over the years the Guyana Police Force has been at a disadvantage in carrying out effective investigations relative to criminal matters, resulting in unsolved cases. However, the completion of this laboratory would significantly improve local forensic capabilities, thereby enhancing the security sector.

Government is cognisant of the need for more advanced technology to enhance the crime-fighting capacity of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), the release has said, hence several groundbreaking initiatives have been taken to ensure that the security sector is fully geared to capacity to deal with emerging challenges.

(By Michel Outridge)