Gov’t working to establish forensic facility by year-end

The government is aiming to establish a highly-developed and modern forensic facility in Guyana to greatly enhance the country’s forensic capabilities according to President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali.
“With Mount Sinai, we are working now, and we hope to have before the end of the year, a world-class forensic facility right here in Guyana where everything in relation to forensics can be done. That is the next target for the end of the year with Mount Sinai,” the head of state announced on Sunday when he commissioned a state-of-the-art pathology lab at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC).
The government’s partnership with Mount Sinai Health System emerged in 2022 and has seen a litany of healthcare development projects coming to fruition.
These include the national child and youth health initiative, and the provision of HbA1c (glycated haemoglobin) machines to the various regions to enhance diabetes care and reduce the mortality rate.
The implementation of a forensic facility under this partnership would signal notable advancement in improving the national health infrastructure.
A multitude of investments have already been made in improving operations at the Guyana Forensic Science Laboratory (GFSL).
The lab has had significant upgrades to its DNA testing capabilities, reducing the backlog of cases that require DNA testing.
With a new forensic facility, this capacity will be further boosted, lending to advancements in crime-fighting efforts.
Some 30 officers of the Guyana Police Force and five officers from the Ministry of Human Services and Social Securitywill soon travel to India on fully paid scholarships to receive training in forensic interviews as part of this agenda.
The government has also recruited highly qualified forensic experts for the next three years to boost operations at the GFSL. The experts have a variety of skills in areas including ballistics, handwriting and fingerprint analysis, and crime scene forensics, among other areas.