A TRAFFIC camera system to monitor red light and speed violations on the roads should have been helping to save lives since 2006, but has instead got bogged down in a tortuous battle over tenders.
A pilot scheme, launched in October 2006, lasted just one year before it was halted after being plagued by technical glitches and legal controversies. The disconnected traffic cameras remain in place, however, looking more like roadside decorations rather than “police’s special weapon to save lives”.
The cancellation of that agreement with Electromatic Consultants Ltd (representing the German company Robot Visual Systems Gmbh) in 2007, not only left the government scrambling to arrange another tender procedure but also resulted in a protracted court case that is currently in queue at the Supreme Court.
In the meantime, the communications ministry was banned from removing the cameras though it was free to pursue other bids to replace the system.
With news surfacing this week that the latest tender procedure is probably going to be cancelled, because the two submitted bids fail to fulfil the necessary criteria, the long drawn-out saga with the traffic cameras is increasingly turning into a fiasco.
Considering that speed limit enforcement systems have been up and running in European countries for years now – Scandinavian countries have been using traffic cameras since the eighties – the inability of Cyprus to finally secure a tender agreement and install the cameras should be leaving public officials red-faced.
So why is Cyprus failing to close the deal?
In May 2005, the government signed a provisional contract to purchase 237 traffic light cameras; 195 speed cameras and eight mobile cameras, from Electromatic for a total cost of €6.5 million.
The system would operate on a pilot scheme for a period of one year, during which time the government would not pay anything while the effectiveness of the system was evaluated.
This 2005 tender agreement with Electromatic was not actually first. An earlier procedure had been cancelled previously after concerns – including legal considerations concerning the protection of privacy – were raised.
Some of these were subsequently resolved, with the cameras not being allowed to photograph the passenger of the car, fines being issued by post and photographs only being presented in court after the suspect denied the charge.
Yet, before the 40 cameras (33 fixed and seven mobile) were finally set up for the pilot scheme in October 2006, there had been other delays in connection to the equipment supplied by the company.
Apart from glitches concerning the photographic recording and printing process, the storage software and hard disc, reports had also surfaced that Electromatic had not taken into account the fact that motorists drive on the left hand side of the road.
The system was also plagued with technical glitches throughout the pilot scheme period, with complaints of cameras suffering power cuts at busy junctions and an apparent inability to properly store photographic data.
In September 2007, the then communications minister, Maria Malaktou-Pamballi, in consultation with the police and the legal services, cancelled the tender agreement after “the company had failed to address the problems with the system”.
According to the current ministry’s permanent secretary, Alekos Michaelides, “the main problem was that some of the photographs were not properly stored on the hard drive, which allowed many drivers to get away scotch free, while others were being charged twice.”
Electromatic’s managing director, Grigoris Markitanis, claimed that the company had provided adequate solutions to ease the government’s concerns and promptly sued the government.
The case is currently still at the Supreme Court, with the company claiming four million euros in damages.
“While the case has yet to be resolved, we have the liberty to pursue other agreements,” said Michaelides
Despite the glitches, police said they were satisfied with the performance of the system.
“Regardless of the technical problems that arose, the system was successful in curtailing the numbers of road deaths,” said the deputy head of the police traffic department Alkis Kyriacou said.
According to police data, a 20 per cent reduction in traffic accidents had been achieved, while over 107,000 offences had been recorded.
The government received approximately €2 million in fines in that one year pilot scheme.
“Despite any problems, the pilot scheme verified our belief that the traffic cameras are essential in averting road deaths, which are still grossly disproportionate to our population,” said Giorgos Morfakis, chief of the road safety unit.
Morfakis said that despite achieving a record low number of 60 deaths in 2010, the figures could have been much lower if the cameras had been in use.
“That is why the tender procedures are still being pursued, because we know the system is effective,” said Morfakis.
He said that when France introduced speeding cameras between 2002 and 2005, they were able to reduce their road deaths by 35 per cent, which amounted to roughly 5,000 to 6,000 lives.
So while the system is broadly seen as necessary by government and police alike, why has there been no system in place for more than four years?
“The tender procedure is a complicated and slow process and unfortunately there are a lot of snags and delays because of the way it is designed,” said AKEL MP Andreas Fakontis, who is also a member of the House communications committee.
Fakontis claimed that there is a general problem with the way the tender procedures are designed, as several rounds of appeals are allowed.
Current head of the electromechanical service, Andreas Charalambous said that the third tender procedure launched in 2009 – the first attempt after the collapse of the pilot scheme – was cancelled before any bids were received, after interested parties expressed concerns over the criteria.
“The new terms were drawn up so as to incorporate the new technological developments, the legal considerations and also to allow for non-EU companies to bid; something that had been omitted in the past,” said Charalambous.
According to Antonis Adamides, the head of the ministry’s tender council which evaluates the bids, the latest tender procedure – the fourth overall – launched in 2010 will be looking to set up a bigger system of cameras.
The new system is set to cost €32 million and will look to install 304 cameras – 183 at traffic lights, 94 on ‘high-risk’ roads for speed control and 27 will be mobile.
Cars will only be photographed from the rear while detection devices will be located under the road surface at junction areas.
While Adamides refused to reveal which criteria were proving problematic, the amendments to the terms of this latest tender procedure, introduced in January and February 2011 could provide an indication.
The tender council was asked to provide clarifications on the position of the camera and radar on the police car, the possibility of using a different detection device and the possibility of using different equipments on the same unit monitoring red light and speed violation.
“The tender council handed in its evaluation of the tender procedure on Thursday and a decision is expected to be made by the end of the month,” said Charalambous.
“If the criteria are not fulfilled and the procedure is cancelled, we will launch another one because we feel that this system is essential for the roads of Cyprus,” said Michaelides.
While Michaelides reiterated the ministry’s commitment in installing the system, it remains to be seen how many times the relevant parties get it wrong, before they finally get it right.
