Wednesday, September 19, 2007 Port body cancels spy cams project
THE Cebu Port Commission has cancelled the surveillance camera project for Cebu ports, said Deputy General Manager Dennis Villamor.
“It was programmed but the commission cancelled the CCTV project because it is now the least priority,” Villamor said.
The commission is the policy-making body of the Cebu Port Authority (CPA).
Earlier, Cebu City Councilor Sylvan Jakosalem urged CPA to install surveillance cameras at the ports to monitor the movement of criminal elements, following the arrest of a suspected bomber from Mindanao.
Inspections
Villamor said that in the ISPS Code, even if only one camera malfunctions out of 20 cameras installed, it will render a port non-compliant.
He said that the International Maritime Organization and the Office of the Transport Security (OTS) of the Department of Transportation and Communications conduct regular inspections of ports to determine compliance to the ISPS Code.
In case of domestic ports, the compliance will be for the National Security Program for Sea Transport and Maritime Infrastructure.
The International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code is a set of measures to improve the security of ships and port facilities. This was developed in response to the perceived threats to ships and port facilities after the 9/11 attacks in the United States.
“The problem is if you are not compliant either to ISPS or National Security Program, the certificate of compliance issued by the OTS will be suspended.
If this happens, no international ships will come because there will be a full vessel inspection,” Villamor said.
“Under this situation, it will be a heavy burden to exporters who will incur additional expenses,” he said.
After the cancellation of the surveillance camera project, the commission will focus on acquisition of more X-ray machines and other means of inspecting passengers and cargoes.
Next month, the CPA will put up for bidding a P3.5-million X-ray machine and P2 million worth of five walk-through metal detectors.
This will be in addition to the existing X-ray machines at the passenger’s terminal located at Piers 1, 3 and Pier 4. (EOB)
