PM wants database on land holdings

GOVERNMENT / INTERIOR MINISTRY

PM wants database on land holdings

Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont has asked the Land Department to set up a digital database on private and state land holdings, so that the cross-checking of land ownership papers could be speeded up.

The system's installation would also allow other government agencies to access the data, if needed.

Gen Surayud, concurrently serving as interior minister, visited the department yesterday where he urged the department to upgrade its data storage system into a digital one to match the developments of the information age.

He said a digital system would come in handy in streamlining the compilation of data on land holdings and land management in the country. The system would not only enable the department to check land holdings faster and more accurately, but also help save on costs, he said.

Once in place, the department could also link up with other concerned agencies, he added.

However, Gen Surayud has warned that the department would have to take extra precautions to prevent unauthorised access to its database as computer hacking was common these days.

Turning to land management, the prime minister said he had a reform target of 60 million rai of farmland in mind in non-irrigated areas. Irrigation systems needed to be introduced in those areas, he said.

He stressed that better coordination among other state agencies was required if the project was to be realised.

''The Interior, Agriculture and Natural Resources and Environment ministries as well as other relevant agencies must lend their full cooperation in the management of land for maximum efficiency.

''The database development is necessary as it will act as a tool by connecting and keeping the ministries together,'' he said.

He told department officials to strictly abide by His Majesty the King's sufficiency economy philosophy.