TRAFFIC CAMERAS around the island were switched off at 4pm yesterday and are set to be dismantled, just three weeks shy of the first anniversary of their appearance.
Communications and Works Minister Maria Malaktou-Pamballi told state television the government had decided to terminate the contract with camera providers Electromatik, after the pilot scheme failed to deliver.
Malaktou-Pamballi said the termination of the contract was effective immediately.
“The agreement, as I said before, was at a crucial point. The trial period had ended and the government had to decide whether it was gong to go ahead with the contract or not,” she said.
“We exhausted all possibilities and decided to terminate the contract. The company did not accept the state’s terms.”
Negotiations had been going on with the company for weeks to try and fix the problems in the system but ultimately failed yesterday.
One of the problems was reported to have been failure of the cameras to properly store some of the photographs on the hard drive. This meant that many drivers were getting away with speeding or jumping red lights, while others are being charged twice for exactly the same offences.
Some of the cameras were also said to be suffering power cuts at busy junctions, while others were reportedly not being correctly serviced.
Electromatik said it was supplying the German manufactured, Robot Visual Systems, which has 70 per cent of the market share in traffic enforcement systems.
However the company has failed to satisfy the government.
Now the government must begin all over again to find a new supplier, which the Minister said will be done as soon as possible. However announcing new tenders and setting a new system is likely to take some time.
The system, which included 33 fixed and seven mobile cameras, was activated on October 11 last year on a one-year trial period.
By 2010, it was hoped that 440 cameras would be installed across the island at a cost of six million pounds.
Since the system was activated, there have been roughly 100,000 violations, generating £1.5 million in fines. Over 600 cars were flashed by the cameras in the past week alone.
Malaktou-Pamballi said any driver caught by the cameras before they were switched off would be still obliged to pay the fine.
Justice Minister Sophocles Sophocleous confirmed that the cameras were turned off at 4pm yesterday. Asked if more police would be out filling in the gap at busy junctions, Sophocleous said: “The policy to battle road accidents is focused on prevention and in changing the road consciousness of drivers,” he said.
“This means that without the cameras, the problem of road accidents could easily be tackled if everyone undertook their personal responsibilities in that area.”
Now I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I have seen it in early morning chaos in Nicosia where the police are standing at the lights diverting traffic, waving traffic through the red light, cameras flashing like disco lights, but the position of the police wouldn't be visible in the photos.
