IF a country’s humanity is measured by how it treats its dead, then Trinidad and Tobago is failing, based on the horror that exists within the walls of the Forensic Science Centre in St James.
In the refrigerated section of the building located in one of the most affluent areas of the country, are the bodies and body parts of dozens of victims of crime, in various stages of decomposition.
So many of our deceased citizens are in the building that, incredibly, one could not be found last month, when grieving family members showed up to take the body home for a funeral.
Forensic pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov, who has worked in several countries and performed thousands of autopsies, said the manner in which the dead are stored will leave anyone shocked and maybe even sick.
“Of all the countries I have been to and worked in, I have never seen such disrespect to their dead ones. I understand the country is short of money, I feel it myself, but we need to bring the facility to a modern standard”, Alexandrov told the Express. “If I show you pictures of how the bodies are kept in our fridges you will be shocked. Even Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon when he came here sometime in August and saw the fridge he nearly fainted. To say the bodies are improperly kept is an understatement”.