CCTV move at market draws flak

Cost of purchasing and maintaining expensive equipment questioned

PETALING JAYA: The plan to install more than 100 closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras at the Selayang Wholesale Market has been panned as a waste of taxpayers’ money.

Electronic surveillance at the market is part of the Federal Territories Ministry’s bigger plan to instal up to 5,000 cameras in Kuala Lumpur.

“There are existing enforcement law agencies that can be mobilised instead of installing CCTV at a market,” Malaysia Association of Certified Fraud Examiners president Datuk Akhbar Satar said yesterday.

“CCTV and facial recognition are only one part of the equation. There is the question of maintaining these expensive equipment, which are normally used at point-of-entries such as airports and ports.”

Akhbar suggested that a task force be formed to work with the Immigration Department and police to weed out illegal traders.

“Technology alone will not solve any problem unless we have high integrity officers,” he added.

Meanwhile, communications director Kapt (Rtd) Dr Wong Ang Peng said CCTV could be used to monitor areas that are notoriously known for the presence of undocumented foreigners.

However, he cautioned against a huge expenditure at a time of fiscal austerity.

“The only issue here is the price of the CCTV. It must be at market price and the authorities should consider why the need for 100 CCTV there. How much does one unit cost? How many personnel will be used?

“There must be accountability as these are at the expense of taxpayers,” he said.

On Monday, Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa said CCTV equipped with artificial intelligence features such as facial recognition would enable monitoring of activities inside and outside the premises.

The Selayang Wholesale Market is a feeder market, supplying up to seven million households in the Klang Valley and Malacca.

Traders representatives told theSun they were not consulted on the installation of the CCTV or its objectives. However, they did not object to the equipment being installed.

At press time, Kuala Lumpur City Hall has yet to furnish details of the costs and manpower involved.

An official representing Annuar Musa said that the matter “has yet to be finalised”.