IT WAS REPORTED last week that an overseas forensic pathologist would be brought in to examine the body that was pulled from a ravine on October 24.
The body is believed to be that of Marcelle Smith, who went missing on October 12.
Some online readers were disappointed that such specialised skills were not readily available in the country.
• Cheryl Alleyne-Brooks: I am upset that every time we have these cases on our hands, we have to bring in these specialists from outside. Start investing in our people. Give them an education; make some open fields for our people.
• Andrew Power: I thought Barbados prided itself on education . . . yet we bring in professionals to do stuff like this. Didn’t we recently open a brand new forensics lab? If it’s training that’s required, why not invest in it?
• Shaunette Babb: Are there enough cases to warrant having a full-time one?
• Shari Yarde: I am trained in forensic toxicology. When I wanted to go to school, two present Government officials looked me in my face and said: “We don’t have any jobs around here for you when you graduate”. Three and a half years later I have my degree and a job in another country.
• Adrian Richards: Personally, I would rather that our crime level became so low that we would not need a resident forensic pathologist.
• Cynthia Taitt: No Barbadian forensic pathologist in Barbados to serve its citizens? Having to depend on a foreigner to carry out this service? Shame, shame, shame, shameful. Stop all this nonsensical behaviour and treat the people of our country with the respect and dignity they truly deserve.
• Sodi: All forensic pathologists aren’t the same. For example, a body that is found in an advanced state of decomposition may necessitate specialised skills. Having a resident specialist forensic pathologist in Barbados may not be practical if there isn’t enough work for the individual.
I am glad that they are bringing in this specialist. This does not appear to have been a natural death and much hinges on what can be ascertained from examination of the body.
It would be a travesty of justice to allow someone to go unpunished because a specialised examination was what stood between linking them to the crime, or letting them walk free.
• Ms B: Can someone explain to the taxpayers exactly why a forensic expert is to be hired because, in light of the rampant criminal escalation in this country, it might be cheaper to hire a permanent forensic expert.
• Dwayne Jordan: We have Bajan pathologists currently working here at the QEH. Why not send two of them to train in forensic pathology? How much would it cost to do that, as opposed to contracting a regional or international forensic pathologist?