Saint Lucia Forensic Laboratory
The closure of the forensic lab at Tapion has affected the ability of the Police Force to move forward with a number of serious crimes, according to Crime Chief Milton Desir.
Desir said that his unit would have sent samples to be tested, but because of the closure of the lab, they have not been able to get anyway with most of these cases.
This includes the Oliver Gobat murder and countless others that have not yet been solved.
The lab was reportedly short on material to conduct forensic tests, which initially caused operations to slow down at the facility. It was later shut down and remains closed for the past three months.
The government had initially said that the closure would last for one week. Nothing has been said about the closure, except reports of plans to conduct an audit of the facility.
According to reports, a request was made by the administration of the Forensic Laboratory, to obtain finances from government, in order to purchase the materials that are needed.
The facility which was established in 2009 has six units – a Chemistry Unit, Toxicology Unit, Biology Unit, Trace Evidence Unit, DNA Testing Unit and Crime Scene Support & Training.
In May last year, National Security Minister, Victor La Cobiniere publicly defended the operation of the facility, despite several persons have argued that it is not delivering and dubbed it “inefficient.”
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