the Safe City Project, he will, for the benefit of the House, obtain from the Commissioner of Police, inform…
(No. B/129) Mr A. Ramdass (Third Member for Vieux Grand Port & Rose Belle) asked the Prime Minister, Minister of Defence, Home Affairs and External Communications, Minister 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) name of the contractors and sub-contractors retained, if any, for the implementation of this project, and (b) efficiency of the project in enhancing public safety, crime detection and criminal accountability. 26
Madam Speaker, I am informed by the Commissioner of Police that, on 19 December 2017, a contract was signed between the Mauritius Police Force and Mauritius Telecom for the sum of USD 466 million, that is, around Rs21 billion, for the implementation of the Safe City Project. On 19 August 2019, the system came into operation on an operating lease basis for a period of 20 years. The Safe City Project comprises the following main components – (a) 4,000 Intelligent Video Surveillance cameras; (b) 300 Intelligent Traffic Surveillance cameras; (c) 9 Convergent Command and Control Centres; (d) an Emergency Response Management System, and (e) a Radio Communication System. Madam Speaker, with regard to part (a) of the question, I am informed that the following five companies have been sub-contracted by Mauritius Telecom, which is the main contractor, for the implementation of the project – Huawei Technologies (Mauritius) Co. Ltd; Teleconvergence Infosystems Mauritius Ltd; Rod Oto Ltd; Powersure Ltd, and MEP Engineering Ltd. As regards part (b) of the question, given the high cost of the project and though the system was designed supposedly for public safety and security, it is obvious that the utilisation of the system was well below expectations. Very often, the safe city cameras were used instead to track the movement of political opponents and spy on Mauritian citizens. The House would also recall how in the process to elucidate certain atrocious crimes, safe city cameras in specific areas were conveniently found defective and non-operational. The case of late Kistnen is a good example. I am, thus, proposing that an independent assessment of the Safe City project be conducted in order to ensure first and foremost, the safety and security of the Mauritians and the prompt elucidation of crimes and not to spy on Mauritian citizens.
Yes!
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Thank you, Madam Speaker. With regard to those safe city cameras, may I ask the hon. Prime Minister whether they are equipped with the facial recognition technology software?
In fact, they are equipped with that technology, but it is not being used because it is in contravention with our data protection laws.
Of course. Yes, hon. Member for Flacq & Bon Accueil! SMART CITY SCHEME – PROMOTERS – TAX EXEMPTIONS