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| Surveying the lie of the land |
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| Tuesday, 15 September 1998 00:00 | ||||||||
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Source: The New Straits Times (page 11) He has fallen into rivers, trekked through jungles and rubber plantations and come across snakes in his path, but in his 15 years of work in land surveying, nothing has taken the shine off Ahamad Zakaria's enjoyment of it. While he concedes that the weather can be stifling at times, he shrugs it off as something of no real consequences. For one who has always been fascinated with calculations and measurements, land survey work has a definite appeal."From young I have always liked calculations and measurements, and I also have a good memory for figures, so when my parents and teachers encouraged me to take up land surveying, I went ahead and did my Bachelor of Science," he says. After three years at the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in England, he graduated with an Honours degree in land surveying and worked in the Department of Survey and Mapping in Kota Baru, Kelantan for two years. He was then transferred to Johor where he worked for six years in the same department. When the chance came to further his studies, he grabbed it and headed for the University of New South Wales in Australia. Two years later, he came home armed with a Masters in Applied Science. His next posting was to the Department of Survey and Mapping in Penang where he became involved with the inception of the Penang GIS, commonly known as PEGIS.  "This system is to help politicians, government agencies and individuals to better manage and to plan the usage of their land," he explains. Recalling his early days of practical training, he says it was hands-on application of all the knowledge he had gathered at university. "I went with my colleagues wherever the job required us to go. River reserve areas, paddy fields, rubber estates, oil palm plantations. Sometimes we even set up camp at the designated areas for a couple of weeks. I have slipped and fallen into rivers before." He smiles at the recollection. Promoted to his present position as assistant senior director for the past 10 years now, Ahamad is currently based at the Department of Survey and Mapping in Kuala Lumpur. He is married with three children ranging in age from nine to 14. According to him, anyone can do land-survey work, especially now that it is computer-aided. A degree is a prerequisite for a land surveyor's job while a diploma in land survey is needed for the post of technical assistant. Technical assistants also go on site to do land surveying. Those who want to further their studies can do so locally and sit for the examinations conducted by The Land Surveyors Board of Malaysia. "There are basically two types of land survey work: for producing land and strata titles, and for producing maps. Both are interchangeable," Ahamad explains. For mapping survey, an aerial photographer takes pictures and makes a mosaic of them, after which a photogrammetrist traces the contours, rivers and other details. Where necessary, field checks are conducted to ascertain the data collected. The data is later given to the cartographic section of the department for map production. To do land surveying for issuance of land or strata titles, the land surveyor has to set up the relevant equipment, for example the theodolite and plumbob for bearing and distance measurement. The department also uses the Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment which makes use of existing satellites in space (of which there are 28) to track down the co-ordinates of a point (x,y,z). These are used to set up control points for surveying purpose.  Once the necessary equipment is set up, the surveyor marks the position of the site on the ground, draws a plan of the surveyed site and submits the plan and report to the office. Upon approval by the authorities, the land or strata title is produced for the land owner. Time taken to complete a project depends on its urgency, but an average duration is two weeks after the site has been surveyed. According to Ahamad, the fees charged for land survey work carried out by the department vary, and are fixed according to the purpose of the land, whether for commercial, industrial or agricultural usage. "It takes three to four years of experience to do a good job as it takes time to learn the ropes. A land surveyor has to learn how to use the equipment, how to place the exact boundary marks and draw plans, as well as master the different formulae for calculations and accuracy," he explains. A high tech system the department is currently using is the SPDK system (a computer software designed for land title work which can do the job from A to Z). The SPDK is also used to set up E-commerce and electronic government. According to Ahamad, the Department of Survey and National Mapping is among the first few government departments to embark on this type of project. These days, a land surveyor's job is made much easier with an electronic system called EDM (Electronic Distance Measurement) which measures data electronically. To conduct survey work with greater speed and efficiency, many surveyors now use the Total Station equipment, another technological development. The SPDK can also accept data electronically from the Total Station. "This means that instead of manually recording data, the surveyor can now push a few buttons and the data is stored electronically. This data can then be transferred to the computer system which uses the SPDK software, and viola, the computer draws the plan and gives a printout. "In the past, a big project could take perhaps five to six months to complete, but now, with the SPDK and EDM systems, it only takes one month," Ahamad says with enthusiasm. Team spirit is important, he stresses, to get the job systematically and to enhance productivity. Though he is more desk bound these days, Ahamad has not lost the feel for site work, and keep track of technological progress in an industry he has grown to love.
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