Business Owners Welcome Council’s Plan
Business owners along Lautoka’s Yasawa Street have welcomed the city council’s decision to install CCTV cameras in parts of the city.
They say the move by the council will definitely help curb criminal activities.
Peekays shop owner Amrat Lal said the area near the Lautoka Bus Stand was known for rampant criminal activities by youths. “We see a lot of young boys snatching women’s gold chains and running off then we noticed a lot of pickpockets, so we are grateful that this is finally happening,” he said.
Mr Lal said customers were also hassled by youths.
“There have been glue sniffers and marijuana smokers coming into shops to ask customers for money and even a group of women entered the shop once with big bags to shoplift, but luckily we caught them,” he said.
Lautoka Farm Chemical and Hardware Supplies store manager Randheer Singh said the perpetrators were now working in groups and hiding in alleyways to target members of the public. “They work in such a way that they distract you and snatch your purse or wallet then pass it to others in the group who then run away,” he said.
Mr Singh said he hoped the CCTV cameras would be able to identify such people.
“The main issue here is trying to identify these criminals because even if you put a hundred CCTV cameras in the city, Police officers do not even patrol this area during the day,” he said.
The city council has embarked on the plan, adding that it is seeking partnerships with sister cities to help in this effort.