Thursday, November 23, 2006
[RealEdge] BT : SLA offers new services on land information web portal
| Published November 23, 2006  | |||
| SLA offers new services on land information web portal It adds free street map directory and search tool on land ownership SINGAPORE Land Authority (SLA) has just boosted its Inlis land information portal with two free services - a simple, online street map service and another which allows the public to obtain information on public land ownership like the name of the public agency responsible for the land, or its managing agent and the contact numbers. While the new online street map is set to erode the near monopolistic market share in online street maps currently held by Virtual Map's popular www.streetdirectory 'There is no intention to compete with the private-sector map providers. We do not have plans to enhance our features, but will study user feedback and make the necessary enhancements, SLA director (strategic planning and policy) Ng Siau Yong said: 'Our StreetMap was devised to support our new LandQuery service because how do you search for a site without a map? 'We are providing just the most basic information, Interestingly, market watchers note that SLA has taken legal action against Virtual Map for intellectual copyright infringement. Virtual Map used to be a licensee of SLA. The case is expected to be heard in the High Court next year. LandQuery is a map-based information service on land ownership which can provide information on whether a property is state or privately owned, land boundaries and lot numbers, and for state land, the contact details of the public agency responsible for a particular site or its managing agent. Members of the public can thus contact the right parties if they are interested in renting a state site or property, or in buying remnant state land adjacent to their property, or if they wish to report on maintenance issues like mosquito breeding, overgrown trees, illegal parking and rubbish dumping. Assoc Prof Ho said that LandQuery hosts information on state land managed or used by 50 different government agencies. Along with the two new free services, SLA has added 12 other paid services to Inlis, boosting the total suite of services to 28, from the initial six when the portal was started in 1998. The new services, which will be of interest mostly to real estate agents, surveyors, lawyers, engineers and architects, will allow users to view images of HDB leases and instruments, private property instruments, including property deeds, and the index to caveat book and land book, among other things. Inlis users can also purchase property title information like estate and land description and encumbrances. Lot history, other historical information, caveat index information and differential Global Positioning System data are also among the latest services that Inlis users can access online. Assoc Prof Ho also traced Inlis' progress since its inception. The number of transactions through the portal has grown from about 3,900 in 1998 to a record 132,000 last year, and SLA expects the figure to achieve a 30 per cent increase this year. The yearly Inlis-transacted value increased correspondingly from $48,000 in the first year to nearly $2.35 million last year. And more offerings are on the cards. 'SLA is currently working hard towards integrating more services into Inlis by working in close partnership with other public agencies,' Assoc Prof Ho said. | |||
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