the Safe City Project, he will, for the benefit of the House, obtain from the Commissioner of Police, inform…
(No. B/645) Mr K. Lobine (First Member for La Caverne & Phoenix) asked the Prime Minister, Minister of Defence, Home Affairs and External Communications, Minister 24 of Finance, Minister for Rodrigues and Outer Islands whether, in regard to the Safe City Project, he will, for the benefit of the House, obtain from the Commissioner of Police, information as to the – (a) number of cameras initially planned for installation, indicating the number thereof – (i) actually installed, and (ii) currently damaged, defective and non-operational, and (b) initial contractual cost and actual cost thereof, including maintenance costs, indicating if consideration will be given to invoke the ‘Refresh’ clause in the contract and, if so, provide justifications for any additional investments therein.
Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I refer the hon. Member to the reply I made to PQ I B/51 on 17 December 2024 where I had provided details of the main components of the Safe City Project. With regard to part (a) (i) and (ii) of the question, I am informed by the Commissioner of Police that the project was initially planned for the installation of 4,000 intelligent video surveillance cameras and 300 intelligent traffic surveillance cameras. There has been no change in the number of cameras to be installed. All the intelligent video surveillance cameras have been installed – all of them. However, there are four which have been damaged and 24 are being relocated. Concerning the intelligent traffic surveillance cameras, up to now, only 157 of the cameras have been installed. The remaining 143 will be installed after the completion of civil works scheduled to be completed by the end of September 2025. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, as regards part (b) of the question, I am informed by the Commissioner of Police that the maintenance cost is included in the contract sum. The operation and maintenance costs amount to USD 8.7 million, annually. As at June 2025, an amount of Rs98,952,549.45 has been paid to Mauritius Telecom. I am further informed that the contracts make provisions for Mauritius Telecom to conduct two planned refreshes with updated technologies every 5 to 7 years which are included in the contract sum. There is no additional investment in other words. The first refresh will start in December of this year, and the second will be planned for December 2032, I believe.
25 POLICE – REWARD MONEY SYSTEM – INQUIRY