Deputy Director of the department Vo Khanh Hung said only a small number of cameras have been installed, leaving many roads unmonitored.
According to the department, a section of National Highway No 1A in Thu Duc district is congested but cameras are only installed at intersections and traffic police checkpoints, allowing people to brazenly violate traffic rulers without fear of punishment.
Similarly, few cameras have been placed at crossroads and intersections such as the Nguyen Xi-Dinh Bo Linh intersection in Binh Thanh district, Hoang Van Thu-Nguyen Kiem intersection in Phu Nhuan district and 3 February Street-Le Hong Phong intersection in District 10.
There are 591 traffic cameras connected with the department’s Centre for Traffic Monitoring and Operation, including 252 installed by others like the VOV National Traffic Channel, Phu My Hung Development Co and the HCM City Urban Drainage Company Ltd, Hung said.
The department would have to pay VND 2.5 billion (US$ 107,000) for renting and maintaining its 339 cameras next year.
The plan to hire 100 more cameras is also part of the master plan to develop HCM City into a smart city in 2017-20, according to the department.
Many districts have installed cameras to monitor public security, traffic safety and illegal use of pavements.
District 12 authorities have installed 600 in 11 wards and Go Vap district’s Ward 14 has installed 200 cameras.
In District 5’s Ward 12, cameras installed recently at the Tan Hung-Thuan Kieu intersection have helped curb violations. Tran Phuong Nam, Chairman of the ward People’s Committee, said the ward has installed nearly 100 cameras.
The camera installation has helped improve proper use of pavements, he added.
In April, Binh Thanh district launched an app for the public to complain about garbage dumping, illegal construction and pavement encroachment. It has yielded positive results and the city plans to expand the app to all districts.
Besides monitoring public security and traffic safety, cameras also help authorities quickly resolve problems and discover violations related to the use of pavements, a spokesman for the District 12 People’s Committee said.
Dang Cong Tuan, Vice Chairman of Go Vap district’s Ward 14, said the cameras have helped reduce the number of violations.
