This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on November 16, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR: The conflict between the federal and state governments in terms of land ownership and administration in Malaysia can be better addressed if an integrated cadastral mapping and land registry system is introduced, says the World Bank.

While emphasising that it remains a legal question under the Malaysian constitution, World Bank senior land administration specialist Katherine Kelm said: “Pooling of the right types of data across Malaysia through spatial data infrastructure will offer better discussions and informed decision-making [among] the parties involved in the matter.”

Speaking at the launch of the World Bank report titled “Enhancing Public Sector Performance: Malaysia’s Experience with Transforming Land Administration” yesterday, Kelm agreed that in Malaysia, states clearly have power over land and land decisions, but the federal government can intervene for national policy or try to standardise or address national issues.

“In the absence of an integrated institutional structure, a strong coordination mechanism with mandator compliance for data integration is critical,” said Kelm.

This, she said, has been “successfully instituted” for Malaysia through bodies such as the National Land Council, which emphasises consensus-building and coordination to achieve its objectives.

The land registration system in Malaysia is under the purview of state agencies, while mapping of lands is undertaken by the federal government — save for Sabah and Sarawak. Cadastral mapping in the two East Malaysia states are managed by the respective state governments, following the decentralisation policy and restructuring of the department of survey and mapping Malaysia’s mapping division which took effect in 2014.

States’ jurisdiction over land matters is seen as a barrier in the smooth roll-out of the affordable housing initiative advocated by the federal government. In July, 1Malaysia People’s Housing Project said that it requires 12,500 acres (5,058ha) for its initial plan of 500,000 units of affordable houses — but it managed to acquire only 108 acres, of which only 39 acres or under 1% were suitable for development. Challenges include high land acquisition costs, and the suitability of available land in terms of its surroundings and infrastructures.

Analysts and property developers alike have called on the federal government to set up a single body to facilitate the currently segregated affordable housing market to help reduce development costs by putting developers in a better position to negotiate with stakeholders such as landowners and state governments.

Overall, however, the World Bank report lauded Malaysia as a success story in delivering efficient land administration services. This includes the introduction of qualified land titles — land registration without a formal cadastral survey — amid key constraints such as lack of professional surveyors and high formal survey costs.

While final (formal) titles have risen to comprise 85% of all land titles in Peninsular Malaysia, Kelm said the successful implementation of qualified titles means there was no difference in terms of cost of land administration services between the two categories here.

The World Bank also commended the transformation of the Malaysian land administration mechanism via introduction of digital platforms and tools such as e-Tanah in June.

The federal government, it found, has reduced the time it takes to register or change ownership of lands from 144 days in 2015 to 13 days this year, landing the nation in 42nd place in ease of registering properties worldwide.

Additionally, it said that Malaysia is in the global limelight for piloting a public-private partnership framework, mainly in the areas of infrastructure and digital projects, to further improve the system.