BASSETERRE – The Ministry of National Security has marked phase one of the closed circuit television (CCTV) project with the official handover of the CCTV command centre.
In a short ceremony on Friday, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security, Osmond Petty, said this first phase included the installation of over 300 CCTV cameras, 12 network video recorders, twelve televisions, about six servers and furniture for the command centre.
“Phase one has been completed . . . and phase one involved putting CCTV cameras in Basseterre and its environs. The project was administered by VIVOTEK, a reputable CCTV firm from Taiwan, or with headquarters in Taiwan and, today VIVOTEK will officially hand over the command centre to the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis and, more importantly, the police,” Petty said.
VIVOTEK was described as one of the top five CCTV equipment manufacturers in the world by Resident Ambassador of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to St Kitts and Nevis, George Gow Wei Chiou.
Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, Prime Minister Dr Timothy Harris, and Chiou had previously signed a Sales Agreement for the supply of CCTV equipment.
The project is a part of the “Cities and Roadways Surveillance System CCTV Project” of which there are two additional phases yet to be implemented.
It is being funded through a bilateral agreement for police cooperation which was signed in 2016 by both countries.
Chiou explained that VIVOTEK was recommended by the Taiwan National Police Agency to be the contractor for the St Kitts and Nevis nation-wide CCTV surveillance system.
“After one year of hard work of installation and testing by VIVOTEK Corporation and its partner Secure Guard Ltd. Corporation, of this high-tech surveillance system . . . 300 cameras have been successfully installed . . .” the Ambassador disclosed.
The Prime Minister described the occasion as a “significant and historic achievement”, adding that that phase alone cost in excess of EC$5 million.
However, he also said that the government had accepted that the crime situation in the country required innovation and that the introduction of CCTV cameras on both islands was one of the new interventions.
“Today we have come to celebrate the completion of phase one of this particular project and to signal our readiness to move, post-haste, with respect to phase two of the programme. We have [been] advised that the CCTV . . . has been quite an added tool in the fight against crime and has assisted the police in providing reliable evidence [with] which they could deal with the investigation and containment of criminal activity . . . ” the Prime Minister said. (CMC)
