Three cameras to provide more security at railway station

People in Cham will decide on six agenda items at the Municipal Meeting to be held on Monday, 13 December. The SVP's proposal for video surveillance was well received by the municipal council.

Cham railway station is not considered to be unsafe. "The perception of the population (with regard to security) at the station is not optimal, however, which is also shown by the submitted motion," writes the Cham municipal council in the brochure for the municipal meeting (Gemeindeversammlung) on Monday, 13  December (7.30 pm, in the Lorzensaal in Cham). The third item on the agenda is the SVP's motion concerning "Examination of video surveillance at Cham station".

The motion asks the municipal council to check whether it would be possible to install cameras at Cham railway station, as there have been repeated incidents at the railway station in the past, according to the SVP (Swiss People’s Party). These have ranged from " verbal sexist harassment to physical attacks." According to the SVP, the feeling of insecurity in the evening and night hours is "strongly pronounced for women and older people, as well as for young people".

The municipal council takes this seriously and writes:

"Security, and the feeling of security, could be further improved with video surveillance,."

As the locations for the cameras are owned by SBB (Swiss Federal Railways), their installation and operation would also have to be carried out by SBB. The conclusion: "Due to the spatial conditions, three camera locations would be sufficient to cover the station square (Bahnhofplatz), the bus station and the main underpass." Based on this, the SBB has prepared a guideline offer, according to which the installation costs amount to around CHF 39,000 and the annual recurring operating costs to a good CHF 6,500. The motion can thereby be regarded as significant.

Agenda items largely undisputed
The SVP is pleased that their motion will be handled promptly,  as it states on request. President Brigitte Wenzin Widmer: "Professional video surveillance has a preventive effect by deterring potential perpetrators." The SP, GLP and Die Mitte parties also agree with this agenda item. The FDP (Liberal Democrats) and the ALG (Alternative, Left and Green) parties did not respond to an enquiry.

In principle, all six items on the agenda are undisputed. Only the new concession contract with the Zug Waterworks (Wasserwerken) is a topic of discussion. The SVP opposes Motion 3, which provides for a new and additional concession fee of 5% on gas usage fees. This is because it mainly affects larger, older developments, but also community-owned properties such as school buildings.

Mitte party wants to abolish fees
Although Die Mitte is generally positive about the new concession contract, it is convinced that the time is now ripe, and that the concession fees for water, electricity and gas should be cancelled. The party therefore requests that no concession fees should be charged in the future. "Charging fees on stock is not in our interest. That’s why we are of the opinion that, on the one hand, the loss of income is easy to cope with for the local community and, on the other, the population has more money in its wallet at the end of the day," said party president Matthias Zoller.