The Government has terminated the services of the director of the Special Anti-Crime Unit of Trinidad and Tobago (SAUTT), Brigadier Peter Joseph, with effect from today, to facilitate Sautt's restructuring and reorganisation.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who made the announcement at the Piarco International Airport prior to her departure to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York, USA, yesterday, said the decision was taken to facilitate the restructuring of the unit and to assure a more coordinated approach to intelligence gathering.

Deputy Director Col Albert Griffith will assume operational command, she said.

Persad-Bissessar also announced the establishment of a steering committee to oversee the restructuring. She said the mandate of the committee will include "the issue proper financial responsibility and accountability for over $1 billion spent by SAUTT to date; the need to reintegrate the civilian (component) of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force and police personnel into other existing national security agencies and the streamlining and harmonisation of other intelligence operations into SAUTT".

The three-member steering committee will comprise Deputy Police Commissioner Stephen Williams, security consultant to SAUTT Dr Daniel Gibran and acting Chief of Strategic Studies in the Ministry of National Security Julie Browne.

In last week's debate on the budget in the House of Representatives, Persad-Bissessar questioned SAUTT's operations, saying it was "ineffective", and was critical of its "improper utilisation of resources".

She had said SAUTT was to be scaled down and converted to a central intelligence unit and training academy.