By L.K. Hewlett
St. Kitts Reporter
Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas has revealed that the criminal forensic testing for the Federation may be conducted in Austria in the near future.
Speaking exclusively to The Observer on Tuesday, the nation’s leader said both countries were involved in discussions regarding the matter and that Austria has offered its services.
“We have been in communication recently with one of the friends of the government in Austria who has made contact with my office and has offered the support of the Austrian Government in terms of training and assisting our people in this regard. The government is in the process of completing discussions as to how we can utilize that offer. Of course Austria is a good distance away and so we have to get the logistical arrangements correct before we can embark on this very important exercise of forensic assistance,” he said.
Douglas said that his government was looking at the matter through a threefold dimension: local personnel receiving training to operate at a forensic level, using Austria to help the Federation source relevant equipment that can be utilized and also arranging for Austria’s laboratory facilities to be used to conduct the Federation’s forensic testing.
During a Cabinet meeting late July, it was revealed that St. Kitts and Nevis was experiencing difficulties in getting forensic work done at labs overseas.
A six-member team from the high command of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force and the St. Kitts-Nevis Defence Force, led by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security Astona Browne informed Cabinet of the problem securing forensic testing at labs in Jamaica and the United States.
Both labs currently being used by St. Kitts and Nevis cited increasing demands on their own resources as the reason for delayed forensic testing, the US labs’ resources being stretched because of the Iraq war and the crime lab in Jamaica citing increased activity in its own jurisdiction presenting similar challenges.
