After three years of promising Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras to aid in the fight against crime, government announced yesterday that it is looking to have the cameras installed at various public places as well as during public events.
Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon told reporters at his post Cabinet briefing yesterday that surveys to determine the exact locations for the cameras were almost complete. He did not say when the installation process would begin.
Government had promised the installation of the cameras at the height of the crime spree back in 2005. It was felt that the cameras could go a far way in solving some of the crimes, which were being committed in the city and other places. Armed robberies had soared particularly towards the end of that year and even though there was a heightened police presence in the city, bandits continued to plunder businesses, rob citizens and escape.
In August 2005, government had said it would purchase the cameras for the police force and the then home affairs minister Gail Teixeira had told Stabroek News that by the end of that year the cameras would have been in place.
President Bharrat Jagdeo had announced the allocation of $50 million to purchase, among other things, the surveillance cameras. Luncheon said yesterday that the importance of having CCTV had increased and Cabinet was considering having them installed at important post offices. Government has also endorsed duty-free concessions for businesspersons wishing to import the cameras.
Meanwhile, Luncheon said too that Cabinet has endorsed the use of plastic wrapping for all suitcases and would allow the same duty-free concession for persons willing to offer the service to airlines. Fears have arisen over several cases last year where drugs were inserted into the luggage of travellers.
A number of businesses had installed cameras on their premises last year following the rash of armed robberies but experts had told this newspaper that some of the cameras were of inferior quality.
When US national Daniel Thompson was bludgeoned to death in his hotel room at Le Meridien Pegasus, the hotel’s surveillance camera had captured a suspect but the image was blurred and had to be sent to the US to be enhanced by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Over recent years, surveillance cameras have proven useful at commercial banks and on several occasions persons were detected withdrawing cash from other persons’ accounts at the ATM machines. Almost all of the ATM machines at the banks are equipped with CCTV cameras.
Meanwhile, Luncheon also announced yesterday that a $243.6 million contract was green-lighted by cabinet for the supply of uniform material for the Guyana Police Force and two other contracts have been approved for the supply of communication equipment and the procurement of vehicles, at a cost of $15.4 million and $56.2 million, respectively.
