City in the dark over CCTV cameras

By HELEN TARAWA
THE National Capital District Commission is still waiting for the handing-over of the 200 closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the city, says Governor Powes Parkop.
Parkop told The National that NCDC was promised that the CCTV facilities used for security operations during the Apec Leaders’ Summit last November would be handed over to city authorities. But City Hall is yet to be told of the arrangement.
The Chinese government, as part of its aid to PNG, had installed the cameras along the main roads used used during the Apec Summit.
Parkop wanted the cameras installed in as many parts of the city as possible.
“This will help us to manage and stop crime by identifying and arresting offenders to better manage traffic and respond to emergency (quickly),” he said.
“We were told that the CCTV cameras would be passed on to us. But we are still waiting, just like the buses. I’m not sure what will happen.”
He said they were still waiting for the 30 buses which were to have been donated to the city commission to operate as supplementary public transport service.
“PMVs have done well for the city but they cannot be the future and they (bus operators) have to come to terms with that,” Parkop said.
“They are not reliable, they are not efficient, they are not on time. No city in the world runs a public transport based on private ownership.
“It has to be a public ownership by the municipal government or one entity owned by the municipal government. That’s the model used successfully elsewhere.”