“This is an investment of 1.7 million euros, in 44 cameras that are targeted with greater capacity and will cover 38 public places where there is a greater incidence of problems or a greater feeling of insecurity”, stated the president of the municipality, Cristina Pedra.

The completion of the installation of the video surveillance system is scheduled for the first half of next year, she said.

According to the municipality, unlike what was established in the first tender (81 cameras), launched last year and later revoked, this new procedure provides for the installation of 44 video surveillance cameras and allows “greater coverage with fewer cameras”.

The devices have different types, with five fixed cameras, 25 multi-sensor and 14 rotating, according to information released by the municipality, in which it adds that “they will be a complement to support policing, particularly in commercial areas and downtown areas of the city of Funchal”.

In November last year, the Funchal City Council (PSD/CDS-PP) approved the opening of the international public tender for the installation of 81 video surveillance cameras in the city, worth 1.4 million euros, with the expectation that they would be installed during the summer of this year.

This competition was, however, revoked by the municipality. At the beginning of this month, in an extraordinary meeting of the Municipal Assembly, the vice-president of the Chamber, Bruno Pereira, highlighted that it was a “complex competition from a technical point of view” and explained that the Court of Auditors warned of the need to enshrine the multiannual nature of the investment.

Furthermore, he indicated, that it was necessary to change the specifications to create “more robustness from a legal point of view”, with regard to the technical capacity of competing companies and the candidacy of entities that compete in a consortium.