GEOSPATIAL information can now be viewed publicly through a web portal called the GeoPortal which was previously exclusive only to departments under the Ministry of Development (MoD) since its inception in 2012.
A workshop was organised by the Survey Department yesterday at the Institute of Civil Services (IPA) to familiarise some 80 officers from different ministries and departments to their work flows on the web portal so they could apply its usage to their respective professions – and make their work easier.
In a press statement given yesterday, the GeoPortal was designed to allow non-expert public users to enjoy viewing land information in Brunei – the public will have access to 2009 orthophotos and superimposed with selected features for the whole of Brunei.
The system also provides an online search engine using location names, places of interest, geographical coordinates and lot parcels. According to the guest of honour, Hj Muhd Lutfi Abdullah, Permanent Secretary (Administration and Finance) in the Ministry of Development (MoD) during the launching ceremony, the usage of Internet, especially in the context of governmental matters, made the provision of services to the public more convenient – there is no need for a face-to-face interaction.
“In support of this idea, the survey department has prepared a platform called GeoPortal Survey, which allows public access to the spatial data infrastructure,” he said.
“It can be accessed through Internet as part of an effort from the Survey Department to provide spatial information for work matters, which could be beneficial, saving time and energy for the other government agencies, private sectors and the general public,” he added.
“The government will not be hesitant in taking action against those who constructed or developed government lands without permission especially on routes, even without knowing the position and measurements of the land.”
In an interview with The Brunei Times, Isham Ismail an officer from the Islamiah Da’wah Centre, Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA) said that the course introduced the GeoPortal as a system similar to Google map with its only difference being specifically for Brunei.
Isham pointed out that at times it is difficult to locate the places where they have to go to as propagators and this is where it comes in handy. On the other hand, a maintenance engineer from the Royal Brunei Police Force (RBPF), Mohd Solehin Hj Masri said that the GeoPortal Survey will be quite useful to his profession.
“The GeoPortal Survey will be quite useful for us to do radio coverage,” he said.
Source: The Brunei Times – 29 November 2013