By Tabora Bojang
The Ministry of Interior has yesterday signed a $48 million Dollar project with Dr. CheikhTidiane Sy trading Centre for diagnostics and research in molecular medicine.
According to officials the project will establish a state-of-the-art forensic and scientific DNA laboratory and a DNA database centre that will increase the well recognized efficiency of the security forces and place them in a leading position in the region in preventing crime.
The signing ceremony was held at the new Interior Ministry building along Bertil Harding Highway presided over by the minister, Mai Ahmad Fatty.
The Senegalese Ambassador to the Gambia HE Prof. Salieu Njie, and ministers of Tourism and Local Government.
According to officials, the centre will support law enforcement and would establish a database that would assist in preventing and solving crimes as well as performing wide range of tests for the molecular diagnostics and monitoring of pathologies, such as infectious diseases, cancer, genetic among other things.
“Today is a milestone in the history of the Gambia but more so the presidency of Adama Barrow, for the past 50 years the Gambia has been struggling to achieve significance in the fight against crime. Half a century after our independence this dream is now realizable, and is within the reach of not only Gambians but the entire Africa,” Minister of interior, Mai Ahmad Fatty said.
According to him, the project is fulfilment of President Adama Barrow’s coalition campaign promise that is not only to keep the Gambia safe and secure but also to provide a judicial system that is second to none in the continent to be characterized by free and fair evidential processes that will be the envy for Africa.
“The future of crime fighting is in technology, we have had several difficulties with proven cases before our courts. Police investigations have been fraud with deficiencies and defectiveness because we do not have the tools to produce and to provide lot of evidences necessary to secure convictions in the court of law”, Fatty said.
“This project will ensure that we do proper investigations that are backed with scientific proof and its completion will be a great milestone in integrating police services things like DNA ballistics, Biological investigations, cyber investigating, rape cases, etc will all be some of the services to be conducted at the centre,” he added.
