News
State surveyors strike to oppose plans to hand over contract to US firm
The move to hand over the task of drawing land survey maps to an American firm has been met with disapproval by Survey Department employees, who see it as a threat to national security and wasteful expenditure.
The Finance Ministry’s External Resources Department has been authorised to negotiate with Trimble Inc. — a United States-based geological information system and mapping firm — to prepare land survey maps and create a streamlined database of 3.6 million parcels of state owned land.
To register their protest, Survey Department trade unions launched a token strike on Friday.
The unions said they were opposed to the move on three grounds.
The first is the cost. The project is quoted at Rs. 23.5 billion (154 million US dollars) and Trimble Inc is extending this as a loan at an interest of four percent. The loan is to be paid back in 15 years inclusive of a grace period of five years.
Government Surveyors’ Association President Duminda Udugoda said the Department was at present using satellite technology for land surveying in the Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and a report had been submitted, highlighting the possibility of adopting the technology island wide at a cost of Rs. 3 billion.
Mr. Udugoda said there were questions about the contract as it was an unsolicited proposal extended by the US company itself. He claimed that the company’s proposal was rejected in 2010 but had been accepted by the new government.
Mr. Udugoda said the government should undertake this project through an open tender process to ensure competitive pricing and transparency.
The third problem highlighted by the trade unions was the threat to national security. The American company would be in a position to obtain sensitive information regarding Sri Lanka’s land. Besides, the collection of biometric scans and e-signatures of Sri Lankan citizens under the project would compromise their personal security.
Surveyor General Palitha Udayakantha, however, rejected these allegations. He said the cost had been brought down from US$ 170 million to US$ 154 million after investigations by two negotiating committees.
The Government has decided to adopt the Trimble’s proposal because the previous government’s Bim Saviya map drawing programme was a failure.
Under this programme, the department surveyed 1.2 million parcels of land over 10 years and issued a mere 405,000 title deeds. Ministry sources said there is a need to survey 1.1 million parcels of Jaya Bhoomi and licensed land within two years to achieve policy goals aimed at raising the living standards of low income families. The department possessed neither the technology nor the efficiency required to achieve the target, the sources said.
At a time when land fraud has become a threat to property rights, several countries have resorted to bio-metric solutions to eliminate fraudulent practices. The “Bhoomi Project” in India and e-Tanah in Malaysia are two systems where land registries confirm identities prior to transactions using thumb impressions in addition to signatures.
Considering the many loopholes that exist in the current land registration system in Sri Lanka, acquiring foreign technology to establish a system that maintains verified ownership and transaction records, a system that is difficult to manipulate, will go a long way towards ensuring property rights, the Surveyor General said.
He said the project would also help train department employees to become more efficient and adept at latest technology.