For a second consecutive day, no autopsies were done at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, and the lone pathologist on duty travels to Tobago today to assist in a pending case.
This as bodies of murder victims continue to pile up leaving grieving relatives with nowhere else to turn, prolonging burials and possibly key evidence which can help investigators solve some cases. On Tuesday, pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov downed tools, saying he was tired and frustrated. This resulted in at least seven murder autopsies not being done.
Since then there were three other homicides. Two murders and one police killing added to the list, including accidents, suspicious deaths and suicides. In a telephone interview with the T&T Guardian yesterday Alexandrov said he was called to assist in Tobago after the death of a young man under questionable circumstances and was expected to leave for the sister island on the first flight out. He added he was scheduled to return to Trinidad around 11 am and then “we will see what happens.”
Yesterday relatives of Stephano Ramkhelawan, who drowned on Sunday off the Moruga fishing bay, were the only ones that left the FSC with a sense of ease after his body was sent to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital for his autopsy to be done there. Nine bodies were brought to the FSC on Tuesday and six were sent back due to a lack of space at the facility.
Alexandrov has described the working conditions at the FSC as worse than slavery. He said the staff was insufficient and because he was the only working pathologist for the past four weeks and the only one scheduled for another two weeks, he was almost certain he would breach the threshold of 350 autopsies allowed to be performed by any pathologist before they were stripped of their abilities to do so. To date he has performed 310 autopsies.
Alexandrov said yesterday he was not told anything by the management of FSC about his concerns raised and steps to address them.
He said he was awaiting word from the powers that be who were in meetings whole day. Relatives of men and women who died under suspicious circumstances were turned away from the FSC yesterday and told to return today.
National Security Minister, Edmund Dillon, when questioned about the situation on Tuesday, said the Government was in the process of recruiting more staff at the FSC.
He admitted the field of forensic science was not an attractive one but scholarships would be provided and in the short-term there were plans to extend existing contracts and hire new skilled labour.