By Clint Chan Tack Thursday, September 9 2010

PRIME MINISTER Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday said police officers attached to the Special Anti-Crime Unit of Trinidad and Tobago (SAUTT) will not be entitled to the monthly special duty allowance of $1,000 which was proposed by Government in the 2011 Budget. Speaking with reporters following the Budget’s presentation in the House of Representatives, the Prime Minister said this allowance was only for the 7,000 officers in the Police Service. She reminded reporters that Government still intends to bring legislation “to sort out SAUTT.”

Recalling her meetings with police officers about salaries and other issues, Persad-Bissessar said, “They asked for far more but we could not afford far more.”

She said Government recognises the critical role police officers play in the war against crime and it was instructive to note that national security got “the largest slice of the Budget.”

Persad-Bissessar said an examination of the figures would show that the National Security Ministry received just under $5 billion out of the $49 billion Budget.

She also said under the new legislation governing the Police Service, incoming Police Commissioner Dwayne Gibbs will also have the role of chief accounting officer regarding the usage of monies allocated to the Service. Gibbs is scheduled to begin work next Wednesday, one day after the Budget debate begins in the House of Representatives.

Persad-Bissessar said while Government would have liked to have played Santa Claus with the Budget and given a lot more to different segments of the society, “ I would really like the national community to understand that we must put the economy on a footing for takeoff.”

She also said Government will consider whether the special criminal court for firearms, kidnapping and narcotics offences would be a summary court or a high court.