Kuwait is planning to install surveillance cameras throughout the country to increase security and fight crime. Interior minister Sheikh Mohammed Al Khalid has proposed a motion to legislate for the introduction of CCTV cameras across Kuwait. “The preventive measures will be an effective deterrent in reducing the incidence of crime and will speed up identification of the perpetrators,” he told the ministry at a cabinet meeting. “They will also preserve the safety of those who go to commercial and residential complexes and the central markets, and will help in the fight against crime wherever it may occur.”
Sheikh Mohammad, who is also Kuwait’s deputy prime minister, said the proposed new law would also regulate the installation and use of security surveillance cameras in establishments and on roads. “This law guarantees privacy and confidentiality and will not deviate from the regulations and approaches adopted by the developed countries that have preceded us in this area.”
The motion comes a month after Moflih Al Rasheedi, a member of the Saudi Shura (Consultative) Council called for the mandatory installation of security cameras. Al Rasheedi said the cameras would help protect residents and that private security companies could be commissioned to implement and oversee the service using digital electronic technology systems. However, the Shura council rejected the proposal amid concerns by some of its members that the camera recordings could be a violation of privacy rights.
