A residents’ association in in Lisbon’s Baixa-Chiado district – one of the most popular areas of the Portuguese capital – has warned of “worsening insecurity” due to an increase in robberies.
The association is demanding the urgent installation of a CCTV system, first announced 20 years ago (but never delivered).
“In recent weeks we have had nearly a dozen reported situations, including vandalism, attempted robberies, and drug use in public,” Vasco de Mello, of the Association for the Revitalisation of Baixa Pombalina (ADBP) tells Lusa.
He points to a robbery at the Dólar jewellery shop on Tuesday afternoon – in which a man smashed the shop window and stole jewellery, including three Rolex watches and a gold chain, before fleeing on an electric scooter. The thief stole more than “€40,000 worth of jewellery in 30 seconds,” says de Mello.
“The problem comes mainly from the Mouraria area, moves to Martim Moniz, and is now reaching Praça da Figueira and nearby areas,” he said, noting two or three robberies have also occurred in the Chiado area.
The ADBP spokesman says insecurity in Santa Maria Maior stems from a “high level of drug trafficking” in Mouraria that moved into the Baixa-Chiado area. The situation has “worsened very quickly” and is “causing alarm”.
It is “inconceivable” that a European capital, like Lisbon, lacks widespread CCTV systems, de Mello adds.
“There is a video protection project that is almost 20 years old, and we still have not implemented a CCTV system in Lisbon, which is bizarre.”
Vasco de Mello explains that Lisbon city council claims the CCTV project is “currently stuck with the government.”
ADBP requested a meeting with the previous interior minister (who worked in ‘invisibility’) but received no response. They now intend to make a “new request” to the current minister, Luís Neves.
The CCTV project began during António Costa’s first government. Lisbon’s mayor, Carlos Moedas, announced some time ago that he has asked the interior ministry for surveillance in more areas, including Martim Moniz, Mouraria, Arroios, São Domingos de Benfica and Avenida da Liberdade.
Lisbon currently has 64 cameras in the Bairro Alto, Santa Catarina, and Cais do Sodre areas, but the full plan involves 250.
ADBP is also very concerned about “petty crime” affecting the city, such as the sale of counterfeit products and illegal street vending.
“There seems to be total freedom in this activity, often brazenly in front of shops selling the same products,” de Mello explains – adding that this causes “enormous losses” to businesses, which pay taxes and people’s wages.
In a statement, ADBP alludes to the “worrying frequency of robberies causing apprehension among business owners and residents”, saying it “does not understand the delays” in the downtown area since cameras have “proved to be a deterrent elsewhere.”
In other words, this is now ‘urgent’, and residents refuse to take any more “passivity from the authorities.”
“This feeling of impunity could lead people to take the law into their own hands,” says the ADBP statement. “If people “do not see action from political, police, or judicial powers, they will eventually have to act themselves.”
Source: LUSA
