Guyana govt will install close circuit cameras everywher to combat al-queda
-Close Circuit Television Cameras countrywide soon
Georgetown , GINA, January 10, 2008
The administration has taken another step to implement strident measures to tackle crime with the implementation of Close Circuit Television Cameras (CCTV) will be implemented shortly across the country in selected areas.
Head of the Presidential Secretariat and Cabinet Secretary Dr. Roger Luncheon today made this announcement during his weekly post-Cabinet media briefing at the Office of the President.
“Close Circuit Television 24 hours a day, seven days a week, can do for us what it has been doing for the rest of the world for security purposes. The bombing in the subways in London , CCTV made an important contribution to the solution. Who did it, when and how it was done, and the security sector has not lost sight of that,” Dr. Luncheon said.
The Cabinet Secretary said government has offered duty-free concessions to the private sector for the cameras and noted that the administration will play a vital role in ensuring that they are implemented in public areas.
The HPS said the effort will be collaborative in that the private sector will focus on business places, individuals, in their own homes and the government more on public security building, shows, football games and the Main Street Lime.
“The possibilities are untold. I think that it’s a well considered step that the security sector has contemplated and moving aggressively to implement,” Dr. Luncheon said.
In response to a question as to whether the cameras will be installed mostly in government places Dr. Luncheon said that they are mainly for the protection of the public.
“I would hesitate to recognize that CCTV at government departments is indeed what is the ideal we are looking for. Here we are speaking about CCTV monitoring the roadways and events…where 24 hours a day one can view what is happening in areas of high crime density and in areas where there might be economic targets. So it not to put in place a robust protection of government facilities. This is not the intention; it’s public protection,” Dr. Luncheon emphasized.
The administration has been placing major emphasis on security which is evident with the large amount of money being allocated to the sector and the improved performances of the law enforcement agencies. Last year $9.3B was allocated for the security and defence sector.
The administration, along with international donor agencies, is working on several other major security programmes which will further improve the capacity of law enforcement agencies.
Some of the programmes include: the implementation of several aspects of the National Drug Strategy Master Plan (NDSMP), Citizens’ Security Programme, the Crime Stoppers Programme and the four-year Security Action Plan between the United Kingdom and Guyana .
These projects will in the long-term significantly enhance security. [according to them]
