AUTHORITIES AT the National Public Health Laboratory, Slipe Pen Road, Kingston, say they have cleaned-up the remains of dog-ravaged blood samples, which had been scattered all over the premises at the facility.
According to them, the pile of boxes and scattered blood tubes, which had been visible last week, had all been removed from in front of the broken incinerator (a special large container used for burning waste material at a very high temperature). The incinerator, lab officials noted, has not been in operation for more than three months.
Lab sources, however, note that since The Gleaner reported last week that blood samples, which should have been destroyed, were carelessly left on the premises, the management, in ordering their immediate removal, had demanded to know from workers, the source of the leak to the press.
Workers at the lab have been blaming the malfunction of the incinerator for the pile-up of waste material. The situation, though, could get even worse as the incinerator at the neighbouring Blood Bank, which has been 'playing back-up', lab officials there say, has now fallen into disrepair. Efforts yesterday to speak with Dr. Evadney Williams, director of the lab, were unsuccessful. She was reportedly locked in a meeting and would not be available for comment until Thursday.
Last Tuesday, The Gleaner reported the presence of hundreds of blood tubes in what appeared to be black plastic bags, scattered and broken on a section of the compound of the lab. The blood tubes were said to be ravaged by stray dogs.
