176 CCTVs placed around Putrajaya to prevent crimes

10 August 2010 , By The Star

The next time you are in this federal administrative capital and want to commit even the most minor of traffic offences, don’t.

A policeman may not be around the corner to nab an offender but there are 176 closed-circuit television cameras (CCTVs) placed strategically around the city to catch criminals in action.

The cameras, operated by Putrajaya Corpo-ration, are linked to the district police office to ensure police can respond faster when incidents occur.

The programme, known as Malaysia Safe or MSafe, is the second to be introduced in the country after Cyberjaya.

It was jointly launched by Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein and Information, Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim at the Putrajaya police district office yesterday.

Under the MSafe programme, the Malaysian Emergency Response System 999 (MERS) and the CCTVs are integrated to create a smart and safe city centralised monitoring system.

Hishammuddin said the close collaboration between the two parties showed that different ministries could work together to meet Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s target of crime reduction.

He added that the plan was to equip as many cities, towns and areas with CCTVs so that police could keep a close eye on public safety, adding that a similar project would be implemented for the Iskandar development area in Johor.

Dr Rais said the Government had allocated RM344mil to carry out similar programmes nationwide.

“We also need to educate the public on the dangers and consequences of making prank calls. Although the number has declined slightly, 797,000 prank calls were made to the country’s emergency numbers last year,” he said.

Dr Rais added that while some quarters voiced fear that CCTVs invaded their privacy, the programme was necessary as it could prevent people from being harmed or crimes being committed.

He stressed that the programme was not intended to “spy on people and their activities”.