By Constantinos Psillides
A TOTAL of 110 traffic cameras will be installed throughout the island by the end of the year, according to Communication, Transportation and Works permanent secretary Alecos Michaelides.
He told the Cyprus Mail that authorities plan to install 90 stationary traffic cameras and 20 mobile ones, with the latter transported in police cars.
“Our goal is to make the roads safer,” said the permanent secretary, pointing out that there are still some issues to iron out.
“They mainly have to do with the tender’s terms and conditions. These are minor problems that will be resolved swiftly so by the end of the year we have a functioning traffic camera network,” remarked Michaelides.
Asked if more cameras will be installed in the future, he said that is a definite possibility but it largely depends on the success of the first phase of the project.
“We have scheduled a six and a 12-month evaluation. By then, we will have enough feedback to properly determine whether the project was a success or not.”
Minister Marios Demetriades said on Tuesday that the state’s goal is not to collect money from fines but to reduce traffic accidents.
The camera network will be run by a private contractor, who would notify police of any violations recorded so that a ticket is issued.
The privately run model was chosen to minimise costs on taxpayers.
Currently, there are only two cameras installed on Grivas Dighenis Avenue in Nicosia to curb illegal road racing.
While the problem has largely been resolved, according to a statement by deputy director of Traffic Police Giorgos Hininos in January, the large number of fines issued prompted a reaction by both the people and the local authority. Following the heated reaction, the speed limit on that stretch of the popular avenue was also increased from 50km per hour to 65kph.
Michaelides said that this will not be the case with the new traffic cameras. “We have absolutely no intention of raising the speed limit anywhere, especially on highways,” he stressed.
Installing traffic cameras dates back almost a decade. After heated debates, mainly focused on personal data protection, a network was set up in 2006 but was quickly discarded. The cameras had numerous problems, including a failure to store photographs and extensive bureaucracy that in some cases resulted in fining a person twice for the same violation while letting others go unpunished.
