UNDP Donates Forensic Equipment to Government Analyst’s Department

COLOMBO (News1st);The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has handed over several modern pieces of equipment to the Government Analyst’s Department to enhance its DNA testing capacity.

The Ministry of Justice stated that the equipment was handed over by Azusa Kubota, the UNDP Resident Representative in Sri Lanka, to the Government Analyst, Kamani Perera.

Financial support for the equipment was provided by the Canadian Government. The donation includes an RT-PCR machine, a PCR system, a state of the art specialized light source system called Crime-Lite used for searching evidence at crime scenes and in laboratories, and serological equipment used in forensics to test blood and other body fluids.

The Ministry of Justice announced that after inspecting the equipment, Government Analyst Kamani Perera and UNDP Resident Representative Azusa Kubota signed agreements acknowledging the official handover.

Minister of Justice and National Integration, Attorney-at-Law Harshana Nanayakkara, was also present at the occasion.

Speaking at the event, the Minister stated that steps have already been taken to issue narcotics-related forensic reports within three months.

The Minister further mentioned that as a solution to the severe delay in forensic report issuance which had been a major issue in the past 70 out of the 118 existing vacancies in the department have been filled.