CCTV systems in Myanmar Back to contents 57 NLD government, tender documents showed that different government departments have regularly contracted private companies for CCTV installations in places such as traffic lights, landmarks, universities, city halls, municipal buildings, parliament buildings, and embassies in Yangon, Mandalay, Naypyidaw, and Monywa. By 2020, the commandand-control centres (the centres equipped with surveillance systems and monitors that enable the police to view and analyse CCTV footage) had already been built in these four cities. While the city-related installations came from individual regional governments, calls for installations coming from the police force were generally under the command of the Ministry of Home Affairs, a ministry that had always been under the direct influence/control of the military,112 even during the NLD government. Leaked documents show that after the coup, the military junta has been ramping up efforts to extend the remaining projects in cities like Mandalay and Mawlamyine.113 Finally, it is unclear how the individual governments envisioned CCTV installations as part of the smart city plan or general development in their narratives. At the end of the day, however, all CCTV networks contribute to an overarching surveillance system in Myanmar. Different regional governments have designed their safe city projects under the umbrella of the smart city, which involved the installation of CCTVs in their chosen civilian neighbourhoods to monitor crime reduction; however, other camera installations, such as Yangon’s vast network of traffic light CCTVs or Naypyidaw’s citywide CCTVs, did not fall under the smart city narrative.

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