MalaysiaGIS.com

Source: The New Straits Times (page 59)

The project is an integral component of the department's Computerisation Project Master Plan, which was initiated in 1989.

VPSD's director-general Datuk Sahari Mahadi said the VIS implementation is now moving into phase three, involving the branches in Johor Bahru, Malacca, Seremban, Bangi and Gombak. He added that a total of RM3.5 million has been allocated for the phase, which will run throughout the year.

According to Sahari, the VIS was first implemented at VPSD's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur and its Selangor branch office during the second stage of phase two, which lasted between 1997 and 1998.

A local area network (LAN) connectivity was established to link the offices, and a similar infrastructure will be set up at other sites.

The VIS is an online system, operating in the Unix environment and using Oracle relational database management system and Arc/Info geographic information system (GIS) software. It consists of three main modules namely management information system (MIS), computer-aided valuation system (CAV) and GIS.

The MIS system has the ability to capture and store information pertaining to land properties in order to facilitate online enquiries and production of reports for analysis and control. The system enables forecasting of trends for the property market, which can then help the public decide on investments in this market.

In addition, the registration sub-module of MIS updates the main database with information pertaining to property transactions and valuation carried out by the department, which is under the Finance Ministry.

"Status of all valuation cases received can also be monitored and reports can be generated for administrative purposes," explained Sahari.

The statistical sub-module of MIS, meanwhile, allows monthly reports of workload from the department's offices and individual technical officers to be generated, in order to monitor the performance of each office and the department as a whole.

Sahari said the CAV module of the VIS allows calculations of property values to be done automatically by the computer, thus expediting valuation processes. At the end of the processes, certificates to report the values for valuation cases can be generated.

The GIS component, meanwhile, captures spatial and non-spatial information of land properties, and offers a variety of analytical functions to process and produce accurate information fast.

Sahari said with implementation of the VIS at all its branches nationwide, the department will then phase out the use of its previous system, which does not support computerised calculations of property values.