KUCHING: The Land and Survey Department (JTS) Sarawak has to adapt to changing trends as it faces complex developments in urban areas, said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.
He said that with many different types of new buildings emerging in urban areas such as SoHo (small office, home office), SoFo (small office, flexible office), and SoVO (small office, virtual office), the local government was facing difficulties in terms of determining assessment rates and rent.
“These are new developments. Are they residential or commercial?” he said during the JTS Sarawak appreciation dinner at a hotel here on Friday.
“Because of this complex situation, we had to amend our Strata Titles (Ordinance) in order to provide the exact property definition,” he explained.
The Strata (Subsidiary Titles) Bill 2019 was passed in the last State Legislative Assembly session in November last year.
According to Abang Johari, the next area of concern was management operations of such properties.
“This is something new. We need to train people, offer new courses including estate management in order to produce estate managers that can manage these properties in urban areas,” he said.
The chief minister also said that technology had to be applied in terms of work.
“I believe that staff of JTS can adjust to all these changes.”
In rural areas, he said the main issue pertaining to land was Native Customary Rights (NCR) land surveying.
He said that to expedite the surveying process of NCR land, manpower had been increased and collaborations with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as the Dayak Bidayuh National Association (DBNA) have been encouraged.
“Once that is done, I think we will be able to mitigate the issues of NCR land surveying and we can issue the titles as per the law,” said Abang Johari.
He told the surveyors that during surveys when they met with the rural folk, they should advise them to try to add value to their land — such as with the application of technology.
Among those present at the dinner were State Secretary Datuk Amar Jaul Samion, Urban Development and Resources Assistant Minister Datuk Len Talif Salleh, Deputy State Secretary (Rural Transformation) Datuk Ik Pahon Joyik, permanent secretary to the Ministry of Urban Development and Resources Datuk Zaidi Mahdi, and Land and Survey Department Sarawak director Abdullah Julaihi.
