TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – State-run telecommunications company PT Telkom Indonesia will begin installing 1,000 closed-circuit televisions (CCTV) in the capital in October.

“The coverage, for the time being, will be around Cakung-Marunda in North Jakarta, and Slipi,” said David Bangun, the president director of PT Dayamitra Telekomunikasi—a Telkom subsidiary executing the project—said at the City Hall on Thursday, August 21, 2014. David added the installation would cost around Rp70 billion.

David said the CCTVs boasted a South Korean technology able to record passersby and vehicles alike in detail. “They can also be used to count how many vehicles were passing them,” he said, adding that the footage would be relayed to the capital’s surveillance control center via Internet.

Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama said the planned installation of the CCTVs was part of the compensation rendered by Telkomsel for the permits it secured to erect microcell poles. “So they want to construct the poles and the city administration asks for CCTVs in return,” he said.

Ahok said the existence of CCTVs could help him monitor the actual conditions in the capital without having to make impromptu visits—locally known as blusukan. The deputy governor also hoped the CCTVs could make Jakartans feel more secure in the city.

SYAILENDRA