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Prior to the construction of the lab, samples had to be sent overseas for testing. In many instances, there were delays in receiving the results for as long as months or even years.

Speaking at his ministry’s 2023 year-in-review press conference, Benn said the main factor that contributed to the long-standing challenge is the absence of specific equipment that is needed.

“I think we are waiting on a particular instrument in relation to making that even faster,” he said.

According to Benn, efforts are ongoing to address this as well as other contributing issues which include the time span in which DNA results are received.

At the same time, he said the human capability of the laboratory is being enhanced. Just recently, he said four experts were hired.

“We have had four experts recently employed. They have doctorates and masters, various specialisation in terms of supporting work at the forensic laboratory and they are already working with us,” Benn noted.

According to the Home Affairs Minister, the boost in the staffing complement has seen a reduction in the backlog of DNA testing.

Once handed over, Alleyne will be questioned by local Police in relation to the crime.

The GPF had issued a wanted bulletin for Alleyne for questioning in relation to the murder committed between April 3 and 30, 2021.

The body of 20-year-old Dover was found in a sitting position in a shallow grave in the backyard of Alleyne’s house at Canvas City, Wismar Linden on April 30, 2021.

Chase’s ties to Bartica add a deeply personal dimension to her mission. Having experienced the transformative power of confidence in her own life, she is determined to pay it forward to her community. Through the partnership with ANSA McAL, she envisions creating sustainable programmes that will uplift not just individuals but the entire community.

The goal is to create a lasting impact on the lives of young women, empowering them to navigate adolescence with resilience and self-assurance.

“The partnership between Chase and ANSA McAL is a beacon of hope for Bartica and a testament to the positive influence that dedicated individuals can have on their communities,” she added.

As Chase continues her mission, the ripple effect of boosted confidence among young women promises a brighter future for Bartica and serves as an inspiration for communities everywhere.

Benn said emphasis is also being placed on ensuring law enforcement officials execute their duties with professionalism at all times.

At the same time, he said efforts are underway to ensure there is improvement in Police behaviour, particularly during their engagement with members of the public.

“The professionalism we desire in our services relates not only to training, their management and how they conduct themselves but also as to how they are perceived by the public in a proper fashion.

“Which is why we said each person can take their cell phone and take out the behaviour of a policeman or a prison officer or whoever. Whether they are terrorizing people, being mean to people, whether they are professional in their behaviour which is what we want,” Benn explained.

It is believed that the utilisation of the technological equipment, particularly the body cameras, will aid in achieving this and also erase corrupt practices.

Among its purpose, the body cameras can be used to document law enforcement officials’ interactions with victims and witnesses during police- public encounters, arrests and critical incidents.

The equipment provides visual and audio evidence that can independently verify events.

The use of body cameras by the Guyana Police Force is guided by Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) 1 of May 2015.

This sets out guidelines and procedures for the use, management, access, retention and handling of evidence, storage and retrieval of recorded media captured by the equipment during the execution of official duties.

Additionally, Benn said to aid crime fighting efforts, the Safe City CCTV surveillance system initiative is being expanded countrywide.

“The Safe City is moving to a Safe country situation where you will have cameras at particular areas in the regions and Police stations,” Benn said.

In fact, he said apart from the city which the programme was initially launched to monitor, Command Centers are being established in Regions 2, 5 and 6.

“I think the challenge has pretty much been the consistency of the bowlers, obviously a wealth of experience in that Australian bowling attack, so their ability to stay patient, and there were times our batters played quite well.

“Our intent to score has always been evident but that has to be matched with decision-making here and with a lot more bounce potentially, the ability to leave the ball more consistently has to be part of your repertoire and your approach. Generally, I thought that our intent was pretty good. Our decision-making was questionable on occasions.”

Coley was not critical of his bowler’s decision-making to bowl short to Head earlier in the day despite five of Australia’s top seven being dismissed nicking fuller lengths.

“Originally, the plan to Head was pretty much go short at him upfront, and then plan B was pretty much a comeback into him, shut him down, which we did most of the time,” Coley said. “But by the time he was set, the bowlers jaded. But I thought we stuck to the plans as best as we could, and generally, that worked well.”

Head said he felt like the short-ball barrage got him into his innings having not received much of it during the Pakistan series, where they instead tested his patience on the front foot and wide of off stump with good success.

“I felt like I started well,” Head said. “Obviously, the short pitch stuff, which is what I faced in England, first look at it in Australia where the ball is more consistent, bounces a bit quicker.

“I felt I made really good decisions around that. Swayed out of the way of a few and played a few.

“It sort of got me in the innings a little bit.”

Head was very impressed by the performance of Shamar Joseph who finished with 5 for 94.

“Very good,” Head said. “I think you’ve seen with the quality of our three fast bowlers when they come in, they’re aggressive, they’ve got a fast bouncer, they’re aggressive on the stumps. And he’s got all of that. And he’s young. I thought he was very good. We’ll play him a lot over the next period.

Coley said Shamar Joseph had delivered exactly what they expected after he had performed so well on the West Indies A tour of South Africa.

“What you see is what you get,” Coley said. “We took him to South Africa earlier. We knew he was inexperienced, but he had pace.

He had a natural ability to work to a plan and be consistent with discipline around it. And he’s done that. On the back of that A tour he was fantastic. He got the most wickets on that tour and he showed what he’s capable of in his first Test match.”

Coley said his young players can only get better at Test level with more Test cricket and exposure to high-quality teams like Australia. But he said the lack of fixtures coming up is concerning and will make it harder to keep players committed to red-ball cricket given the amount of franchise opportunities on offer.

“The challenge really is the number of Tests that we do play,” Coley said. “Generally, outside of a Test series against England, we generally play two-Test match series. And then if you look at how our schedule is set up over the next two years, in some instances Test series is six months apart. There’s not a lot in between.

So it’s really about us trying to fill the gap in some instances where we can, maybe with other bilateral tours or potentially looking to fit in A team tours that could help to improve that exposure or increase the exposure that the players have.

“Our situation is that financially we aren’t secure enough to be able to offer substantial central contracts and that is always going to be a challenge for us. And what we have tried to do in the last maybe six or 12 months is really have more conversations with the players to be able to work out windows where we can have our best players available.

But I believe this is something that is widespread already and will become more of a challenge. But more so for countries who potentially aren’t financially viable and don’t play a lot of Test cricket.” (ESPNcricinfo) 

At that stage, 40 minutes remained in the day, and it was far from out of the question if Australia’s bowlers would rattle through the rest.

Justin Greaves, who had earlier bowled well on debut, and Joshua Da Silva, provided some resistance, only for Greaves to fall on what became the final ball of the day.

Australia successfully reviewed for an lbw for Nathan Lyon, with the ball hitting leg stump from around the wicket. With West Indies still 22 behind, Pat Cummins appeared to briefly ponder asking for the extra half an hour, although there was no certainly the umpires would have granted it.

Earlier, the fact Australia had the lead they did was almost entirely down to Head. West Indies had chipped away during the morning session, and when Carey was caught behind, they still trailed.

But Head sped into the 90s with a flurry of runs against Shamar Joseph, and brought up his century from 122 balls when he dispatched left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie through the covers.

It was his first Test century since the World Test Championship final against India in June, and the first time he had passed fifty since the Headingley Test in the Ashes next month.

Head had entered in just the second over of the day, and dominated on a different level to any other batter in the game.

After reaching his century, he flicked the switch and carted Shamar Joseph for consecutive sixes over the leg side.

Head and Mitchell Starc added 54 for the seventh wicket to take Australia ahead. After Starc had fended Shamar Joseph to short leg, Cummins provided support in another useful stand until Head picked out deep midwicket aiming for another six.

But while the result will likely end horribly one-sided, it should not detract from the performance of Shamar Joseph, whose fifth wicket came when he speared one through Lyon with the second new ball. He walked off to a standing ovation, and gave the crowd a bow.

In his first over of the day, he was taken for consecutive boundaries by Green, but responded by finding the outside edge next ball with a perfect delivery which moved away a fraction and sent the bowler on another sprint celebration across the Adelaide Oval outfield the morning after he had become a story around the world.

Shamar and Alzarri Joseph maintained early pressure on Head and Usman Khawaja, the latter happy to bide his time but the former keen to be aggressive although not always at his most fluent. Once Green fell, West Indies quickly went to a short-ball plan against Head, although the surface did not quite have the pace in it to be hugely problematic.

Head went past 3000 Test runs with a lofted drive over the covers as the partnership started to dominate. Khawaja was shaping up well, putting a couple of pulls away strongly through midwicket, while Head also deposited Greaves into the stands over square leg.

But just as concerns were growing as to whether West Indies could maintain the pressure, the medium pace of Greaves lured Khawaja into driving a wide delivery, and the edge was well held at second slip for his first Test wicket.

Mitchell Marsh struggled early in his innings, multiple times edging short of the cordon, and had 1 off 22 balls before he laced a cover drive off Shamar Joseph. However, it wasn’t a sign of a change in fortune. After another edge fell short of third slip, and Greaves moved up even closer, wearing a helmet, and brilliantly held the opportunity off Kemar Roach.

Australia were 129 for 5 and West Indies had a glimmer of staying in the game – but a few hours later, they were just trying to make the third day. (ESPNcricinfo)

The News Room understands that the plants were found on 20 acres of land; they ranged from three inches to six feet in height.

Three shift camps and a quantity of farming tools were found at the site. Further, an additional 500 pounds of dry cannabis were found in one of the camps.

No one has been arrested but investigations continue.