A construction team from the People’s Republic of China is expected to arrive before Christmas Day to assist in the first steps towards the construction of the nation’s long awaited forensic laboratory.
A forensic laboratory has been long called for by law enforcement officials to assist them in solving crimes and missing persons more swiftly by identifying the human remains found by officers.
From the case of murdered Customs Officer Nigel Christian, and Gray’s Farm resident, Arthur James, which both were stalled multiple times over lack of a forensic report, to missing persons cases like missing teen Shamar Harrigan from Willikies, where human remains were found near the Willikies salt pond, have yet to be identified.
The backlog of unidentified bodies has also caused delays in burial proceedings as relatives have been unable to grieve properly due to lack of a concrete report as was the case with Michael Cummins, who had to wait eleven months for a forensic report to confirm that burnt remains found at his home were indeed his then-16-year-old son, Dequan.
Hurst, speaking during the post Cabinet press conference, admitted that the government in Antigua and Barbuda has been slow to get the country’s own facility off the ground, but said services, once constructed, will be available to all Caribbean nations.
“Antigua and Barbuda is usually out front, and usually the first, certainly within our OECS collaboration to provide all kinds of services to the other parts of the OECS, unfortunately, in this regard we have been a little slow.
“It has taken a long time, and some of it has to do with the payments, but other times, so many other [countries] are lined up ahead of us that it takes a very long time for the analysis to take place.
Hurst added that personnel at the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda have already been trained to assume command of the facility once it is built.
Previously, Antigua and Barbuda was among numerous OECS countries who had to ship DNA test samples to Trinidad and Jamaica where there are established forensic labs.
However, local priorities in those labs’ home countries and, in some cases, the slowness of the government in settling arrears, have forced the families of some victims to wait several months for identity confirmation.
In the OECS, St Lucia recently completed accreditation of their own forensic facility, originally constructed back in 2010.
The St Lucia Forensic Science Unit was stated to have a ballistic facility to test DNA on firearms, a chemistry unit, toxicology unit and a DNA testing unit.
“You know, the [China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation] has established a presence in Antigua…so once they can provide the financing that is necessary, we are going with them,” Hurst said.
It is expected that the forensic lab will be completed between the end of 2024 and early 2025.
