The new forensic laboratory, which will improve the Guyana Police Force’s investigative capacity, is at an advanced stage of completion, with photographic and forensic equipment being procured for investigators.
In a statement, the Home Affairs Ministry said using the National Competitive Bidding ( NCB) process, the International Pharmaceutical Agency ( Guy) Limited of Lot 22 B Camp Street, Georgetown was awarded the contract to supply and deliver items to the Forensic Laboratory as follows: Lot 1 – Small Apparatus and Glassware (150 items) in the sum of Gy$39,616,509.
These items include beakers, test tubes, pipettes, and storage containers and Lot 2 – Consumables and Chemicals (248 items) in the sum of Gy$10,174,812. These items include chemicals, including reagents and acids. These items are needed to perform daily analysis, testing, and sampling, the ministry said.
Additionally, Pressy Enterprise of Cowan and Parade streets, Kingston, Georgetown, was awarded the contract in the sum of Gy$15,024,000 for the procurement of photographic and forensic equipment for the police force.
Back in September, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee had announced that a team from Barbados has been contracted to install the equipment to facilitate the smooth running of the forensic laboratory.
Rohee explained then that the imported equipment had to be calibrated on arrival in Guyana before being installed.
“The security features have been already installed and by the third week in October, all the installation will be completed with respect to equipment, which will see the facility being in full operation,” he said. The Home Affairs Ministry has already hired staff.
The contract for the Gy$840 million Police Forensic Lab falls under the Citizens’ Security Programme (CSP), initiated by the government and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). This programme has three components: institutional modernisation of the Home Affairs Ministry; the Community Action Component (CAC); and the modernisation of the police force, which includes the strengthening of forensic capability.
