Bali Wants to Install 1,000 More CCTV Cameras

Made Arya Kenana | August 22, 2010

Denpasar. Bali is so pleased with its eyes-in-the-sky that it wants to add an additional 1,000 closed-circuit television cameras throughout the beach resort island.

Nyoman Silanawa, who heads the province’s National Politics and Public Protection Bureau, said that the cameras will go up in a major city and across eight island districts. “We have allocated a budget of Rp 22 billion ($2.4 million),” he said.

The cameras will be monitored and controlled by local police stations and the Disaster Prevention Operations Control Center.

At present, the “Island of the Gods” has monitoring cameras hooked up at 12 strategic and often tourist-heavy locations.

But the Gilimanuk port in west Bali, which serves as a major gateway to and from Java, and the Padang Bay port, which is mainly used for traffic between the island and Lombok, will also be hooked up with the cameras.

“There will also be additions at Ngurah Rai International Airport and Benoa,” he said, adding that the island’s dominant tourism industry has been a major driver of increased security programs in the province. The Nusa Dua Bali Tourism Development Center is one such example, funding the instillation of 68 CCTV units in the enclave.

Silanawa said he hoped the work would be completed quickly to build on the advances the province has made in other areas of crisis management.

“We really hope that everything will be installed and integrated by 2013,” he said.

Bali has also drawn up plans to build 33 self-contained crisis centers. “The facilities will be equipped with fire fighters, security and health care officers,” Silanawa said.

Bali Police spokesman Comr. Gede Sugianyar Dwi Putra said the installation of the cameras have changed the way law enforcement operates on the island. “We have prevented many incidents, in cluding crimes against foreign tourists,” he said.

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/bali-wants-to-install-1000-more-cctv-cameras/392316