SUBJECT Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan, said this year the Ministry of Public Security will place greater attention on the rolling-out of the first phase of its Safe City Programme.
Speaking with Guyana Chronicle, Ramjattan said the programme is expected to boost the intelligence capabilities of the security sector, since it will monitor movements in and around the city.

The pilot will see surveillance cameras mounted at strategic locations and hotspots in Georgetown. Those cameras will be linked to a central command centre managed by police officers.
The Safe City Programme is very popular in some developed countries, including the US and England.

The Public Security Ministry is currently looking for a facility to house the command centre. Asked about the facility at the Castellani House, Ramjattan said he was advised that a separate building will have to be identified, since there will be additional and larger screens, more human resources and other aspects of the command centre. Castellani House would not be able to accommodate an operation of this scale, he said.

The Safe City Programme will be rolled out in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Telecommunications.
“We are making arrangements to have a command centre, we are also going to have a delivery of a number of cameras to be mounted at some of the hotspots as mapped out, and all [will] be interconnected to the command centre,” Ramjattan said.

As it relates to the patrolling aspect of the operation, the smart city solution will rely heavily on existing resources of the Guyana Police Force. It is the hope that all patrol vehicles will be connected to the centre so that they can receive transmission there, Ramjattan said.

The Safe City Programme is an initiative of the business community, law enforcement and technology partners which came together to devise a strategy aimed at reducing crime and creating a safer city environment. Guyana adopted the initiative a few years ago and has begun the ground work to have it implemented.