Abstract:
Deeds registration based cadastral system has long been established in Sri Lanka. This
system was originally introduced by the British Ceylon (1796 - 1948). Both the major
components of this cadastral system, deeds registration and cadastral surveying, have
several drawbacks. The deeds registration suffers low efficiency and ineffectiveness
related matters. On the other hand, the cadastral surveying system fails because of
incomplete land ownership information. In 1998, the Sri Lankan government introduced a
title registration based cadastral system in response to the problems faced by this old
system. The Survey Department and Land Settlement Department play major roles in this
reform program. However, little progress has been made since the program’s inception.
The program administrators are now re-evaluating and forming strategies to expedite the
progress of cadastral system reform program. Identifying different avenues to strengthen
individual organizational involvement in the program is a key factor to this strategy
formulation exercise.
This study aims to investigate the Survey Department’s internal process that comprises
registration of land titles and identify improvement options. Filed data collection involves
interviews, direct observations in the field and review archival records. Findings of this
study indicate that any delay of cadastral maps has affected the whole program as
subsequent steps of title registration depend on cadastral plans. Although the current
work processes of the Survey Department are satisfactorily efficient enough, the existing
survey department regulations have not streamlined with the objectives of the cadastral
reform program. The existing regulations of the Survey Department have satisfied selfinterested objectives in the department. This collaboration delay among major
government departments involved in the program has negatively affected the efficiency of
the cadastral reform program. Finally, it was found that with the existing system, time
taken to complete a cadaster plan cannot be reduced significantly. The necessity of a new
systematic methodology to prepare cadastral map in a collaborative manner with other
involved departments is clearly visible.
