On 24 April 2023, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), together with the Canadian High Commission, handed over to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago a Containerized Evidence Storage Solution with fabricated secured cages and shelves, for the storage of ballistic evidence at the Forensic Science Centre to address firearms related crimes.
The handover ceremony was attended by the Hon. Fitzgerald Hinds, Minister of National Security, Mr. Derrick Sankar, Director of the Forensic Science Centre, Mr. Arif Keshani, representative of the High Commissioner of Canada to Trinidad and Tobago and Ms. Soledad Urruela, Director of UNLIREC. After the ceremony, the Director of UNLIREC met with the Trinidad and Tobago authorities to discuss future technical assistance in Trinidad and Tobago.
The container, as a new storage space solution, will be used to keep evidence – mainly arms and ammunition – under custody ,providing improved physical security, access control and storage management and registration.
As part of the donation, UNLIREC provided expert guidance on the customization of the container with materials such as steel shelves, metallic doors, high security padlocks, and a laptop computer, among others. Thanks to this donation Trinidad and Tobago is now in compliance with high-security international standards and good practices to ensure proper management of arms depots, thus contributing to reduce the diversion of firearms.
This donation was made in the framework of the technical assistance that UNLIREC provides to Trinidad and Tobago through the project “SUPPORT IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CARIBBEAN FIREARMS ROADMAP ” with funding from the Government of Canada.