Red tape cut for land title applications

22/09/2003 The Star By Jacobus Raj

GATED community schemes are the latest trend in housing development in Malaysia, with more and more developers building such communities. Unfortunately, legislation still does not exist to cater fully to these schemes and this was one of the main issues dealt with at a recent seminar on Gated Communities organised by the Department of Land and Mines and the Association of Authorised Land Surveyors.

Deputy Minister of Land and Cooperative Development Dr Tan Kee Kwong opened the seminar. In his speech, Dr Tan said gated communities already existed overseas and that more and more local developers were trying to create such projects. He added that the main problem dealt with the issuance of land titles for those living in such schemes.

He said the seminar had been organised after a fact-finding mission led by Department of Land and Mines director general Datuk Ismail Dolah Harun to Western Australia where he visited the Department of Land Information to learn more about the Australian experience with gated communities.

Dr Tan addressing delegates at the seminar on Gated Community Schemes.
Speaking to the press after the launch, Ismail said the seminar aimed to generate suggestions and proposals from all participants so that amendments could be made to the Strata Title Act 1985 to cater to new concepts brought about by gated communities.

Association of Authorised Land Surveyors president Chan Hun Seok explained that in a gated community, buyers owned their individual units but the facilities were shared and maintained by a maintenance corporation.

Dr Tan also advised those living in apartments and other high-rise dwellings to apply for their strata titles as soon as possible to identify themselves as the legal owners of their units. He said the ministry had taken steps to reduce the red tape involved in such applications, including the installation of a RM200 million computerised Land Registration System.

He added that the ministry had issued new equipment to 107 sites, including land offices throughout the country, as part of its modernising efforts. He said a proper system of registration was important as land was not only an asset to the country but also fundamental to development.

Speakers at the one-day seminar included two representatives from the Department of Land Information, Western Australia, Charles Noble and Ken Alexander, who presented papers on Australia's Experience with Strata Concepts for Community Titles and Surveying Requirements for Community Titles respectively.