Amendment to Malaysia’s Licensed Land Surveyors Act is necessary, not a hindrance

WE are writing to express our opinion about the article "Addressing misrepresentations of geomatics industry, legislative impact” (The Star, Oct 10).

The Licensed Land Surveyors Act (Act 458) was enacted in 1958, shortly after the Federation of Malaya gained independence in 1957. This Act allows a surveyor registered with the Land Surveyors Board to become a professional land surveyor in Peninsular Malaysia. At that time, land surveyors in Malaya consisted mainly of expatriates from Britain and a small group of locals. Due to the shortage of these professionals when the Act was written, Section 13(3) of the Act permitted non-licensed land surveyors to perform land surveys other than title surveys (surveys for issuing land titles).