Symposium on Land Registration in the Arab World
Dead Sea, Jordan, 1-3 September 2005
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Participants of the symposium during an excursion to Petra Valley. |
Under the slogan ‘Towards a Secure and Reliable Land Register’ a
symposium on ‘Land Registration in the Arab World’, has been organised
at the Marriot Jordan Valley Dead Sea Resort & Spa, Jordan, 1-3 September
2005. During this Symposium the challenges and ambitions related to the
establishment of secured and reliable land registers in the Arab world have
been discussed. The Symposium was organised by the Jordanese Department of
Lands & Survey, in close collaboration with the Arab Union of Survey and the
International Federation of Surveyors and was under the Patronage of the
Deputy Prime Minister Esteemed Mr. Hisham At Tall.
In this electronic information era, the world witnesses huge
transformation in almost all domains. This situation requires revision of
registration systems and the development of cooperation and information and
knowledge exchange. The level of exchange of information and experiences
among Arab countries themselves and with other countries was not
satisfactory. Anyhow, during the last few years this level has noticeably
improved and some activities (seminars, meetings…etc) in land registration
and cadastre took place in some of these countries.
Aim of the Symposium
This symposium aimed to portray land registration systems in the Arab
countries, history, experiences, challenges and future ambitions as well as
to share international experiences in this domain. The 24 presented papers,
were categorized in four main topics:
- Land Registration Systems
- Modern Technologies
- International Experiences, and
- Future Ambitions.
The Presented Papers included overviews on Land Registration Systems and
Land management and focussed on subjects as how to make the real estate land
register work, cadastral surveying, valuation, archiving and managing the
treasury land.
The Second Main Topic underlined the importance of Technology to achieve
the tasks of the establishments working in the Land Registration not only in
submitting services quickly but also in working toward improving and
developing policies. The international experiences added a new vision
concerning information systems that speed up and facilitate land registry
procedures.
During the Symposium the land registration systems in the Arab world have
been explored. 140 Experts in Land Registration from 23 Arabic and other
countries participated. There are significant differences in the level of
development of the land registrations in the region. A country like Jordan
almost completed the computerisation of its cadastral and property data is
developed tool for access by internet. Other countries are still completing
there registrations and have all data accessible on paper. In many countries
the existing legislations do not cope with technology. In many cases
cadastral maps are seriously damaged, there is an urgent need for
computerisation; this could be combined with cadastral data collection from
remote sensing images. Different registrations, e.g. for rural lands and
settlement area's could be combined in unified electronic systems systems
with e-services. Accuracy is a point of attention; in many cases there are
discrepancies between the physical situation in the field and the
representation of this in the registrations. There is a preference to
convert existing deed based registrations to title based registrations.
International standards should be adopted to accelerate implementations of
cadastral and land registry systems.
Recommendations
Recommendations were prepared by a committee; composed of Chair Elect of
FIG Commission 7, Mr. Andras Ossko, Hungary, Counselor Farouq
Awwad, Egypt, Mr. Khalil Tafakji, Palestine, Dr. Yaacoub Saade,
Lebanon, Eng. Samir Abbadi, Jordan and Eng. Mouen Saygeh,
Jordan.
The Conference called for intensifying the cooperation among the
concerned Arab Bodies through the improvement of the means of communication,
participation in scientific meetings, identifying the Arab Experts in Land
Management Cadastral Registration and Surveying and publishing related
information. It was proposed to co-operate in a project for the development
of a unified Arabic Model for laws and Regulations organizing title register
modalities in the Arab Countries.
The possibilities of reducing the costs of land- and properties
registration and simplifying its procedures should be further studied. Also
the unification of the different surveying and Registration Organisations in
the same country should be object of study, as well as the automisation of
the operations in data collection and maintenance and storage in a modern
data base environment.
It was recommended to the Arab Union of Surveyors to extend the union
relationships and to have attention to legislation in the domain of
Cadastral Registration. Other disciplines could be involved here.
The Conference Expresses its great esteem of the outstanding experience
of the Department of Lands and Survey in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,
and its achievements concerning the implementation of the title register and
the development of surveying services in a remarkable way, making of it a
model in this domain.
The Participants in the conference express their gratitude and
appreciation to his Majesty King Abdullah the second, to the
government of Jordan, and to the Department of Lands and Surveys, for their
generous hospitality and for Patronising of the Conference, sending a
thanking telegramme.
Eng. Samir Abbadi
Jordan
FIG Commission 7 |
