Surveillance cameras to be installed only in special cells

Cheng Fong Meng

The proposal from the government to install surveillance cameras in prison cells is going to move forward but only for a few “special cells,” according to the director of the Correctional Service Bureau (DSC), Cheng Fong Meng.

Questioned by the media on the current status of the plan to install surveillance cameras (CCTV) in some prison cells, Cheng said, “for the time being we have no cameras installed yet, but we do have the plan to install CCTV in ‘specials cells’.” He added, “we have already exchanged opinions with the Office for Personal Data Protection in what relates to the protection of personal data and after an inspection [from this bureau] the cameras can be installed.”

For the time being, the cells in which cameras will be installed are the “disciplinary cells and the medical services [ones] in which we have needs and do not breach the personal data protection laws,” Cheng said. According to him, the application of this technology is a trend in many countries and territories to help to keep the order, discipline and safety of the inmates and the staff and also as a way to reduce the need for staff.

The male ward of the prison

One of the problems that the DSC is trying to tackle is staff shortage. “Now we struggle with lack of staff due to the constant growth of the inmate population. We are currently doing a recruitment of 70 more prison guards,” the DSC director said, noting that the bureau currently counts over 600 guards of which around 180 are foreigners.

Cheng also said that expansion works planned for the Coloane Prison would allow the placing of a maximum of 100 more inmates in the facilities of the institution. “The expansion works will allow the placing of 80 to 100 more inmates in prison,” he said, adding, “at the moment, the figures as of December 31 2018 show that we have a total of 1,458 inmates, of a total capacity of 1,600. This means that we have reached about 90 percent of the maximum capacity and we have a tendency of growing figures in inmate population.” As Cheng explained, the needed addition of space would be achieved through a “modification of the inner spaces of the prison,” not involving any exterior construction works. RM