Sindh govt wakes up to the necessity of a forensic lab

Allocates Rs220 million to set up a modren laboratory at KU

KARACHI: The Sindh government has allocated Rs220 million for the establishment of a forensic laboratory at the Dr Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research (PCMD), a constituent institute of International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS) in the University of Karachi (KU). The plan is to set up a modern forensic DNA and serology laboratory at PCMD's Jamil-ur-Rahman Center for Genome Research.

ICCBS Director Dr M Iqbal Choudhary shared the news on Monday while speaking at a press conference at the Latif Ebrahim Jamal National Science Information Center.

The director said that the ICCBS had prepared a comprehensive plan for the execution of the project. He said that they were committed to establishing a laboratory on a par with international standards and added that only staff that had been trained and cleared international proficiency tests would be allowed to analyse samples.

He said that the laboratory would be operational within eight months after funds were received from the provincial government.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) regarding the strengthening of forensic DNA and serology facility in Sindh was signed between Jamil-ur-Rahman Center for Genome Research and Sindh health department on October 1, 2018. The memorandum will be in effect for a period of three years from the date of execution and may be extended on mutual agreement.

The director said that the ICCBS had already advertised for the positions and selected qualified and experienced staff for the project. He said that one forensic scientist and two research officers had already joined and were preparing standard operating procedures and protocols, adding that the hired staff was being trained.

The forensic lab would be able to handle 50 cases daily and in case of any untoward incident, extra cases would be divided among other national research facilities.

A tender to procure equipment for the laboratory has already been advertised, said the director, adding that after fulfilling the requirements of Sindh Public Procurement Regulatory Authority, purchase orders would be issued to successful bidders. The process of procurement, installation, calibrations and validation runs will take at least six months, he said.

The director added that during a recent meeting, Justice Faisal Arab of the Supreme Court reviewed the progress of the project and asked all parties to complete the project at the earliest. According to the MoU, Sindh government has made ICCBS the focal centre for training in forensic serology and DNA analysis and has declared ICCBS a drug and food testing laboratory.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 18^th, 2018.