THE MINISTRY of National Security said yesterday that it would not be renewing its contract with Dr. Royston Clifford who has been the head of the Government's Forensic Department for almost two decades.
According to Gilbert Scott, the Ministry's Permanent Secretary, he has written to the chief personnel officer in the Public Service Commission, indicating that there was no desire to have Dr. Clifford continue in his capacity as chief pathologist.
Dr. Clifford, consultant forensic pathologist, who joined the Ministry in 1985, as director of the then Legal Medicine Unit, came under fire last week after refusing to allow note-taking by an independent pathologist during the post-mortem examination of the Marvin Henderson, earlier this month.
The autopsy was postponed until March 20, when Dr. Kadiyala Persaud, another pathologist in the department, conducted it.
The Ministry said that Mr. Scott had instructed its Personnel Department to terminate immediately, Dr. Clifford's access to Ministry services and facilities, as his contract expired last month. Mr. Scott said that Dr. Clifford was no longer associated with the Ministry of National Security.
The Ministry said that in the interim, it would act in collaboration with the Ministry of Health to ensure that post-mortem examinations are not affected by Dr. Clifford's dismissal.
Donovan Nelson, the National Security Ministry's communications adviser, said that Dr. Persaud would be working for Dr. Clifford until a replacement is found.
The Ministry is moving to recruit a replacement and is taking steps to conduct a thorough review of the department, he said. "We want to make sure there is transparency in the department," Mr. Nelson added.
A letter from Mr. Scott was hand-delivered to Dr. Clifford a week ago, giving him 24 hours to respond to charges by Jamaicans for Justice, the human rights lobby group, that he was reluctant to allow independent pathologists to observe and take notes at autopsies conducted by Government pathologists. He was asked to explain his stance on observer pathologists, by Monday at 1:30 p.m., after ignoring a directive given when he postponed the autopsy on the body of Basil Brown.
Dr. Clifford was told that he was to allow note-taking by Dr. Ademola Odunfa, observer pathologist, after the Attorney-General's office advised Mr. Scott that note-taking was generally acceptable. However, less than a month later, Dr. Clifford again postponed an autopsy when Dr. Odunfa attempted to take notes.
Up to yesterday, according to Mr. Nelson, the Permanent Secretary had still not received a response to his letter.
Responding to the Ministry's action, Dr. Carolyn Gomes, executive director of the JFJ, told The Gleaner that she was pleased with the possibilities it raises. "I salute the Permanent Secretary for his decisive action," she said.
In its news release, the Ministry stated that "the directive to permit the presence of an independent medical practitioner as an observer at post-mortem examinations, and allow the observer to take notes, will be enforced."
The Gleaner was unable to reach Dr. Clifford for comment.
