Progress in Development of National Digital Cadastral Map

Progress is being made in the development of the Government of Jamaica’s National Digital Cadastral Map, thanks to the incorporation of technology in data collection.

The map, which details the legal boundaries of properties, will show all of the land parcels and support land titling, environmental resource management, the development approval process and, by extension, the country’s economic growth and development.

This was explained by Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Hon. Everald Warmington, during his contribution to the 2021/22 Sectoral Debate.

He announced then that 25 per cent of the map should be developed by March 31, 2022.

Manager of the Mapping Services Branch in the Survey and Mapping Division of the National Land Agency (NLA), Milton Saunders, told JIS News that currently, “we are about 30 per cent along the way, using a variety of approaches.”

The process of developing a digital cadastral map is intricate and lengthy and, in the first stage, involves surveyors going out with traditional tools to conduct surveys and then submitting those plans to the NLA for verification and approval.

The agency will utilise new technology to assist in the data collection process.

“We are open to and have been using any new technology that comes about. In recent times, through the combination of the varying approaches that we have been using, we are seeing an uptick in the conversion and the creation rate of the national digital cadastral [map],” Mr. Saunders said.

He pointed out that the NLA currently owns and operates various unmanned aerial vehicles or drones to help in its surveying, land titling and mapping activities.

With about 30 per cent of the map now developed, the NLA hopes to incorporate the use of drone-captured imagery in this endeavour to realise greater efficiency in the completion rate.

“We do have our projections in terms of where we want to be percentage-wise each year. For this year we are supposed to achieve a five per cent increase on top of where we were before, and that would translate to about 60,000 more parcels,” Mr. Saunders explained.

Once achieved, the target will be gradually increased the following year until all 800,000 plus parcels of land that comprise the entire island are completed.

Mr. Saunders said that along with the National Digital Cadastral Map, which will be two-dimensional, the NLA intends to complete a three-dimensional cadastral map in the future.