Local forensic lab’s DNA testing system almost operational, Benn says

Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn has said that while the DNA analysis workflow system was almost fully operational, some samples are still being sent overseas for analysis.

Responding to a question at his ministry’s end-of-year press conference, he said, “There are particular ones, and depending too on the quality and speed of return which we have sent overseas. I think we are waiting on particular instrumentation to make that even faster.”

Asked about the functionality of the system so far, Benn assured reporters that efforts were being made to improve the speed and quality of DNA testing.

“We should be having a visit shortly to [a] regional laboratory in respect of their procedures and methodologies in respect of the forensic laboratory. We have had four experts recently employed. These are doctorates and masters [with] specialisations in terms of supporting work at the forensic laboratory and they are already working with us and we are seeing improvements in the backlog which we have had…,” Benn said.

Late last year, the minister had revealed that the Guyana Forensic Science Laboratory (GFSL) was soon to receive the system in the coming months and samples will no longer be sent overseas for testing.

“I want to announce… we have paid for a new machine and we will shortly, within a couple of months… be in a position to do our own DNA testing here in Guyana at the Guyana Forensic Laboratory and that we wouldn’t have the time and the wait to get DNA overseas and maybe we might have a way of burial for particular cases where bodies or remains are still in waiting,” he had told members of the media during the Criminal Investigation Department’s annual Christmas luncheon and awards ceremony.