Surveillance cameras on public venues to nab environment law violations

The Environment Public Authority (EPA) in coordination with the Ministry of Interior (MoI) has installed surveillance cameras on beaches, parks and other public areas that draw large crowds, as well as along the Jaber Bridge and islands, with the aim of finding and prosecuting those found violating the environment law and regulations.

The sources revealed that the cameras will be linked to the Operations Room of the Ministry of Interior (Environment Police Department) or the EPA’s operations room, so that the police could play a significant role in monitoring and gathering information on violators of environmental laws and regulations.

Liaison officers in the Operations Room are able to communicate with the field teams and guide them to offenders instead of wasting limited resources patrolling certain places.

The sources confirmed that the installation of cameras in other places is under study after a parliamentary proposal presented by parliamentarian Ahmed Fadhel, especially in places that are part of tourism projects.

Pointing to the inability of judicial officers in the Environment Public Authority and Environmental Police officers of the Ministry of Interior to follow up on all the irregularities happening at public places and tourist sites, the source said the EPA had divided the judicial control teams into six and distributed them across the governorates. Nevertheless, the source added that the number of individuals monitoring is small compared to the need to address law violations and raise awareness in the field of environmental conservation.