The Cape Verdean government and Chinese telecommunications and networking equipment group Huawei Technologies on Monday in Praia signed a contract for the development of the first phase of the “Safe City” project, the archipelago’s government said in a statement.

The contract to be signed includes the construction of an Operational Command Centre, the installation of a video surveillance system and a system of alerts and integrated operational communication (voice, SMS and data).

This first phase is due to start operating in January 2018, and a second phase is already under study to cover the islands of São Vicente, Sal and Boa Vista, with the start scheduled for the second half of 2018.

An agreement of intent was initially signed in October 2016 in Macau, according to statements made at the time by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Paulo Rocha, according to which Cabo Verde would be endowed with a modern urban security management system.

Rocha also said that the project, with an estimated cost of US$ 20 million, translates into a system for placement of video surveillance cameras in the country’s main urban centres, a command centre and a control centre for all entities that operate in the area of ​​security, such as the National Police and Municipal Police. (macauhub)