THE NEW traffic camera system that will operate next year will have three times as many cameras as the system that worked two years ago.
This, according to Communications Minister Nicos Nicolaides, will mean the new system will cost significantly more than the previous one.
Nicolaides was responding to an article published by Politis newspaper yesterday, reporting on the Auditor-general’s request for explanations over the new increased costs.
According to the paper, the new system will require around €27 million, compared to the last system, which cost €11.5 million.
“The Auditor-general has indeed requested explanations from the Department of Electromechanical Services regarding the level of the estimated expense, which is significantly higher than the 2006 system,” Nicolaides said yesterday.
“This is mainly due to the fact that the number of cameras that will be installed is more than treble. In 2006, there were 149 points were the cameras were meant to be installed [141 were fixed and eight were mobile]. Now we are speaking of 440 fixed and 40 mobile cameras,” he said.
In 2006, there was also a provision for 291 fake cameras, but there is no such provision now. “We are also speaking of a new system, technologically updated,” said Nicolaides. The cost, he added, was justified, if it resulted in saving human lives.
“From what I understand, a letter is being prepared by the Electromechanical Services, where all the necessary specifications will be given to the Auditor-general,” said the minister.
The tenders’ period expires on October 3, when the tenders will be evaluated and decided on. The system will then be implemented gradually, in three stages. The first phase will start being installed and operating as soon as next year.
Based on the new design, cameras will be installed in the three main cities of Cyprus, in four stages, as well as on by-roads and selected points in suburban and rural areas.
In order to avoid the problems that arose last time – the contract with the previous company was interrupted due to the system’s unreliability in registering and storing traffic violators’ data and photos – the new system will allow no human intervention, instead operating electronically.
The government does not seem too concerned about the increase in the system’s expense, considering how easily the investment will be returned in the form of added fines. In the one year that the previous system operated (October 2006-September 2007), the state collected €3 million in fines, while a further €3 million worth of fines were still pending.
According to data released by former Communications Minister Maria Malachtou-Bamballi in September 2007, the operation of 33 cameras resulted in a 15-20 per cent decrease in traffic violations and accidents compared to the year before.
