Doubts already cast on Mong Kok spy cameras

The 'sky eyes' system that oversees a pedestrian area in Mong Kok received its first test just five hours after going into operation yesterday, and doubts about its effectiveness were already being expressed last night.

The two sets of surveillance cameras are trained on Sai Yeung Choi Street South, where two previous acid attacks had occurred. But last night's attack took place in adjacent Nelson Street, near the junction with Sai Yeung Choi Street South.

'I hope the cameras were able to capture the images, but it is highly unlikely,' said Yau Tsim Mong district councillor Henry Chan Man-yu. 'It will be such a waste of taxpayers' money and resources if it fails.'

According to a paper provided by the district council, two sets of cameras, worth HK$1.7 million, were installed on the rooftops of two buildings to 'give a panoramic view of most of Sai Yeung Choi Street South'.

Mr Chan said experts from the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department had suggested two sets of cameras were enough.

'It is apparently a wrong judgment,' he said, noting that it would take at least five sets of cameras to cover the whole pedestrian precinct.

'Police have been focusing only on Sai Yeung Choi Street South since the two previous attacks, but that could be a mistake. Mong Kok is such a high-density area that not one single spot can be omitted.'