The Real Estate Information System


A National Project that Fully Implement GIS in Handling Land Registration Transactions in Qatar

Mohamed Abd EL-Wahab Hamouda


ABSTRACT:

Real Estate Registration Department (RERD) was established on 1967 with a manual system designed for the workload at that time. RERD is the only department authorized to maintain a Land Cadastre, other agencies requires cadastral data must refer to RERD.

Due to the phenomenal growth in urban development during the last 20 years, there was a relatively large volume of land related records. As urban development rapidly expanded, the total number of parcels multiplied. Meanwhile, the RERD working procedures adopted during the end of 1960’s are still being applied for the current large amount of transactions. The current RERD data had out grown the manual system being used. This creates problems for land owners, public planning, administration and civil services functions.

Lately, more attentions have been given to land recording and management functions in Qatar, especially from senior government planners. It became evident that the existing land registration system needs to be developed to be able to handle the current as well as the future workload. As a result, CGIS has started the long awaited GIS Project last November of 1994. The objective of the project is to develop a state of the art Real Estate Information System (REIS). The REIS will fully automate the land registration process in Qatar using GIS. It will also address the increasing great problems such as duplicate/similar owner names, ad-hoc inquiry, non-standard office procedures, redundant pieces of information and many other issues. The REIS is expected to be launched by mid of June 99. The new system with the GIS Technology will address the concerns related to RERD as well as other agencies dealing with RERD data.

This paper discusses different activities of developing the REIS such as: Technology in terms of hardware/software, data sources, data conversion and data validations/quality control, the development of the new system, etc. Experience gained through conversion activities is highlighted. The paper ends with some conclusions.

1. Introduction:

Qatar became an independent state in 1971. The state is a peninsula lying midway along the western coast of the Arabian Gulf; and covering an area about 11,500 sq. km., with the east-west distance of 80 km., and north-south extent of 180 km. Qatar has a desert climate with mild winters (Ave. temperature 10 – 14 C); and very hot summer (max. temperature 40 – 50 C). Rainfall is concentrated in winter and spring, with an annual average of 50-70 mm. Terrain nearly level to gentle sloping, except for some small hills and higher ground to the south and west. Areas of vegetation are towards the north, while the south is arid land covered by sand dunes and salt flats.

Qatar is a major producer of oil and has a vast reserve of natural gas. Agriculture has not been fully developed, but food production for the domestic market is significant. Population is about 522,000 (1997 estimate). Doha, the capital, is situate on the East Coast of the peninsula, and is the largest urban area and commercial center, with about 85% of the total population of Qatar. Greater Doha (including the surrounding communities) is a modern city with a main seaport and international airport providing direct worldwide transportation links.

Land registration process in Qatar requires the involvement of a number of specialized government departments and services centers. Except for Real Estate Registration Department (RERD), all the government agencies involved are part of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture (MMAA). Mainly, these agencies are the Center for Geographic Information Systems (CGIS), Lands & Acquisition Department (L&AD), the Planning Department and the Land Information Center (LIC) that includes both the General Survey Section (GSS) and the Planning Information Section.

RERD is considered to be the central body of the land registration process in Qatar. Figure (1) illustrates the Context Diagram of RERD; it highlights the role of different agencies involved in the land registration process in Qatar. RERD belongs to the Ministry Of Justice (MOJ) and was initiated according to Law no. (14) 1964. The first registration case was in June 1967. RERD has its main office in the Doha City and a branch office located in Al Khor City known as the RERD Office for North. The North Office was initiated in 1979 to handle registration procedures of the North District’s lands. However, it is responsible for only about 70% of the RERD registration procedures, while the rest of procedures are finalized in the main office in Doha.

By law, RERD is the only department authorized to maintain a Land Cadastre representing lands ownership. All other agencies (governmental and private) that require the use of cadastral data must refer to RERD. The decision of RERD concerning the approval/disapproval of registering any parcel has the power of the Court of First Instance decision. Such decision can be only changed or reversed at the Court of Appeals.

Land registration in Qatar in its general terms is only allowed for Qatari citizens. However, citizens of Gulf Cooperating Countries (GCC) may own and register a parcel with some restrictions (law regulations). Moreover, Foreign Embassies and their respective Community Schools may also be registered with appropriate restrictions.

Land registration in Qatar is restricted to areas that have been designated for urban development. It is estimated that such areas include approximately about 170,000 parcels. Among those, only about 95,000 parcels are already registered. More than 80% of the registered parcels are located in Doha and Rayan Municipalities; the rest are located in the North and Wakrah Municipalities, Figure (2.0) illustrates different Qatar’s municipalities and distribution of registered lands.

During the last 20 to 25 years, there was a phenomenal growth in urban development. Such growth has created a relatively large volume of land-related records and transactions. Moreover, as urban development rapidly expanded; the total number of parcels multiplied. On the other hand, the RERD existing manual system and facilities are incapable of achieving the desired performance levels. The work procedures that have been designed and instituted during the end of 1960’s to handle the workload at that time still applied for the current large amount of workload. The data that RERD have right now had out grown the manual system being used. This creates problems for public planning, administration and civil services functions as well as for land owners.

Lately, more attentions have been given to land recording and management functions in Qatar, especially from senior government planners and organizers. It became evident that the existing system needs to be developed to be able to handle the existing as well as the future workload. As a result, CGIS has started the long awaited GIS PROJECT last November of 1994. The main objective of the project is to develop a state of the art computer-based Real Estate Information System (REIS). The REIS will address the increasing great problems such as duplicate/similar owner names issue, long turn-around time of registering parcels, ad-hoc inquiry, lack of information on how to resolve land dispute problems, non-standard office procedures on recording data, redundant pieces of information being produced all over the place and many more issues. The new system with the use of GIS Technology will address the concerns at RERD and other agencies dealing with RERD data.

The following sections provide a summary for different activities of the project. Equipment, data sources, data conversion, data validation/quality control, system development and benefits of the new system are discussed.

2. Equipment:

The project is equipped with the latest technology in terms of hardware/software. For Hardware, the project is using DEC ALPHA 2100 Server. For Software, the project is using ARC/INFO 7.2.1 and Oracle 7.3.4. RERD machines are interconnected with other servers on the GISNET of Qatar via a high-speed fiber-optic network. All applications are running under Digital Unix 4.0D, Windows NT/95 and Motif environment.

3. Building the REIS Digital Database:

    Converting the existing tabular and spatial data records of RERD into digital format is the major activity of the REIS. Tabular and spatial data records of the last 31 years that represent different transactions occurred on more than 95,000 parcels are converted into high quality digital data. This required the use of other agencies databases. A huge number of homegrown applications are used to perform conversion activities. The following sections show different tabular and spatial data sources available in RERD, databases related to other organizations and used in building the REIS database, different activities of data conversion as well as highlight difficulties and experience gained through conversion activities.

    3.1 Available Data Sources in RERD:

    3.1.1 Tabular Data Sources

    a) AL Sahifa AL Aqariya

    The Sahifa represents the legal record (the register) of a parcel in RERD. It includes all ownership details and keeps a record of all transactions occurred on the parcel, i.e. keeps the ownership history of the parcel. The Sahifa is assigned a unique parcel number called Sanad AL Mulkiya (deed) number (Sam_no). Each Sahifa is related to one and only one parcel. It includes data such as Owner(s) name, Ownership Shares, Sam_no, Parcel location, Parcel description, parcel area, Transaction number (Trans_no), type of transaction and restriction(s) applied to the parcel such as mortgage and court seizure if there is any.

    b) Transaction File

    For each transaction to be performed on a parcel, a transaction number (Trans_no), also known as Daily Registration Number, is issued and a transaction file carrying that number is created. That transaction file contains all documents, official letters, contracts and technical/legal reports associated with the transaction. Each parcel may have one or many transaction files depending on the number of tarnsactions performed on that parcel. There are more than 130,000 transaction files in RERD. Through documents in a transaction file, parcel’ Sahifa is generated.

    c) The Alphabetical Index of Owner Names

    The Alphabetical Index of Owner names contains all owner names and parcel(s) owned by each owner, the parcel is recorded by its unique Sam_no. The index includes names of about 55,000 owners, all names are arranged alphabetically. So, each owner might have one or more records in the index depending on the number of parcels he/she owns.

    d) The Daily Registration Book

    The daily registration book is the one used in recording all daily registration transactions occurred in RERD. Once a transaction is finally approved, it is assigned a unique number called the transaction number (Trans_no), which is the same number assigned to the transaction file belongs to this transaction, and recorded in this book. The book contains data such as Trans_no, Date (day, month and year), Sam_no, Transaction Type, Owner Name, etc.

    3.1.2 Spatial Data Sources

    a) Record Sheets

    The Topographic Base Maps that were produced by Hunting Surveys LTD from the 1977, 1980 and 1982 Arial Photographs are being used as the base map in RERD. RERD surveyors are manually transcribing parcels on these base map sheets and write Sam_no of each parcel. These are called the record sheets. There are more than 1200 record sheets with 1:500, 1:1000, 1:2000, 1:5000 and 1:10000 scale.

    The record sheet keeps the current as well as the previous status of the parcel. Any change on the parcel shape and/or area is drawn with different color on the same copy of the record sheet, so we can see different shapes of the same parcel with black, red and green colors drawn on the top of each other which creates a lot of confuse especially for parcels gone through many transactions. The parcel is manually drawn on the record sheet based on the accurate survey performed by the General Survey Section (GSS) of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture (MMAA).

    Moreover, the record sheet contains a lot of drawings other than registered parcels called inspections, which make it more crowded. The inspection is the drawing resulted from the preliminary field inspection performed by RERD surveyors for the parcel at the first stage of registration procedures. The surveyor prepares a sketch shows the parcel location, shape and dimensions and manually draws it on the record sheet. Each inspection is assigned a unique number called the Inspection number.

    b) Tasjil AL Aqari Sheet (Cadastral Plan) that known as the TAIN

    The Tain is the cadastral plan of the parcel and prepared by RERD surveyors depending on the accurate survey performed by the GSS. Each Tain is assigned a unique number called Tain_no. The Tain includes one or many parcels; it shows the geometrical layout of the parcel as well as its registered area and registered side lengths. Any transaction that causes a change in the area and (or) the shape of the parcel will require preparing a new Tain. All Tains produced before 1986 have no digital data in the GSS database. Tains produced between 1986 and 1990 partially have digital data in the GSS database. Most of Tains produced after 1990 have digital data in the GSS database. Some Tains of parcels registered after 1990 were produced in RERD without referring to the GSS and hence have no records in the GSS database.

    3.2 Digital Databases Related to Other Organizations:

    a) The Ministry of Interior’s (MOI) Data Base

    This database contains the names of Qatari as well as the GCC citizens along with their Qatari Identification Number (QID), this QID is a unique number for each citizen and consists of 11 digits. This database also contains the name along with a unique QID for each governmental, sub_governmental and private body such as ministries, banks, companies, etc., this QID consists of only 8 digits. The MOI database helped a lot in resolving duplicate/similar owner names registered in RERD through the manual system.

    b) The General Survey Section (GSS) Database

    The GSS is considered as the technical arm of RERD. The major part of the work performed by this section relates to accurate field surveys for parcels to be registered at RERD. The year 1986 witnessed a major development in the section’s surveying equipment and computational facilities. Since that time, parcel data has been available in digital format. This helped a lot in the spatial data conversion of the REIS, especially for parcels registered after the year 1986. Each parcel in the GSS digital database is assigned a unique number known as Parcel Identification Number (PIN) that consists of 8 digits. Any change in the parcel area and/or shape will result in assigning a new PIN.

    c) The Center for Geographic Information Systems (CGIS) Database

    The CGIS provides the digital and up to date Topographic Database for the entire country. It also provides the ortho images in different resolutions. This database played a great role in the spatial data conversion, it helped in placing all parcels without digital data source in the GSS database in their correct location.

    3.3 Data Conversion Activities

    3.3.1 Tabular Data Conversion

    a) Conversion of the Alphabetical Index of Owner Names

    The owner name has been used as a key in the manual system to locate other related ownership information. With this methodology and due to the nature of names in the state of Qatar, it had created a tremendous amount of duplications and confusions that resulted in the loss of valuable information as well as inconsistencies to ownership data. It has been decided that the first activity of the project is the conversion of the Alphabetical Index of owner names to resolve the above mentioned anomalies. A unique owner ID has been introduced as a key to facilitate cross-referencing ownership and other transaction related data. It was important to clean that index and correct all the issues associated with owner names.

    Many concerns were discovered and solved. Examples are: many names that belong to different owners were having exactly the same spelling. Also, the name of the same owner was found written in many different forms as if each of these forms belongs to a completely different owner, and so on. This task required the establishment of a committee from the project team, RERD senior staff and many representatives of different families who know all persons belong to that family to help resolving similar/duplicate names concerns. It took about six months to finish the conversion of the index into digital format and to fix many of the problems associated with names. The manual Owner Names Index had been converted into an electronic intelligent querying sub system that was applied by RERD since the very beginning of the project.

    b) Preparing Data Necessary for Spatial Data Conversion

    The purpose of this activity was to provide a link between the parcel’s data in RERD and in the GSS database so that the digital data provided by the GSS can be captured and handled correctly. This stage was also needed to provide a link between tabular and spatial data records of RERD. Tables with data necessary for spatial data conversion were provided through this activity. Data was extracted from Transaction Files and Record Sheets as follows:

    Data extracted from Transaction Files

    Data included in the transaction file and is needed for the spatial data conversion was first transcribed in special forms prepared for this task by a data transcribing team and then entered to the computer by another team. A third team was performing a proofreading to make sure that data entered in the computer is correct, any corrections are passed to data entry team to make necessary updates.

    The reasons for performing transcribing activity first instead of entering data from the transaction file directly into computer refers to the nature of the transaction file itself. After analyzing the very unstructured data on transaction files, it was very clear that data entry staff would easily be lost in pinpointing which data to enter into computer. This would result into great much delay as well as the entering of wrong data. So, the experience of the RERD Support Staff with transaction files was used to help the project staff searching the required data and transcribing it in the prepared forms so that it can be entered into the computer easily. The resulted tables include data such as transaction number, type of transaction, Sanad Al Mulkiya number (Sam_no), Tain number (Tain_no), PIN, registered area of the parcel, etc.

    Data Extracted from Record Sheets

    This conversion activity provided a table that contains all registered parcels (about 95,000) with their respective record sheets (more than 1200 record sheets). The table includes each Record Sheet_no and all parcels (with their Sam_no) included in that Record sheet.

    c) Conversion of the Daily Registration Book

    All data records in the Daily Registration Book are entered to the computer and reviewed. Currently, records related to transactions being finalized through the manual system are entered to computer in a daily basis. Programs are developed to perform continuos checking on the Daily Registration Book and the Sahifa to make sure that any transaction added to the Daily Registration Book is already updated in the Sahifa.

    d) Al Sahifa Al Aqariya Data Entry

    Since Sahifa is the legal document of the parcel, it is supposed that no changes or corrections are done in the Sahifa without an offical transaction, but it was found out that this is not the case. It was discovered that there is much inconsistency in the ownership details included in the Sahifa. Entering the Sahifa into computer was done through different activities. First, RERD senior staff did a general review of all Sahifa. This task was to search for some anomaly entries such as invalid transactions, invalid ownership shares, etc. Next, names that were subjected through the committee checking /merging based on the index of names (during the stage of the index conversion) were synchronized against the Sahifa owner names. Next, all ownership details included in the Sahifa were entered to computer. This data entry seemed to be easy as it may sound, unfortunately this was not the case. The data entered was so unstructured. Moreover, there was a great amount of incompleteness on the data. Validations on data entry programs have to be removed because of the amount of violations on the rules and procedures of the data entered on the manual system. Next, print out of the entered Sahifa is made and compared to the original Sahifa. Corrections are marked on the printed copy of the Sahifa that is to be reviewed again before given to the data entry team. Finally, The listed correction prepared in the previous step is entered to the computer.

    To put into tangible terms on how to size up this activity; a Sahifa for proofreading is usually one A4 size, but it could grow up to more than one depending on the number of owners and the number of transactions occurred on the parcel. There are nearly 95,000 Sahifa, which is approximately a minimum of 190 reams or 38 boxes of A4 size paper.

    Currently, all transactions finalized through the manual system are being entered to computer in a daily basis, any transaction occurred on an existing parcel is updated to its Sahifa. Meanwhile, a new Sahifa is created for any transaction that requires creating a new Sahifa such as new registration, parcellation and unification. This is done always by cross checking with data in the digital Daily Registration Book. These ways, at the time all tasks of tabular data conversion are finished, there will not be any missing data and the database will be up to date

    e) Restrictions Data Entry

    The ownership may be controlled by some conditions (restrictions). For example, the parcel may be mortgaged, or seized by the court. Also, the parcel may be under some law regulations as in the case of lands granted by government to citizens. These restrictions are recorded in the Sahifa. All data about restricted parcels are entered to computer through different activities. First, data were collected and transcribed in special forms prepared for this task. The forms contain data about restrictions such as sam_no, transaction number, date and type of restriction, restricted shares, source of restriction, restriction value (in case of mortgage), etc. This data was mainly collected from Sahifa. In most of the cases, Sahifa does not include all required data about restrictions. For any parcel where restriction data is not complete as recorded in Sahifa, transaction file(s) of that parcel was searched to get the necessary data. Second, all forms were entered to computer through another team. Third, Data was printed out to perform a proofreading. Corrections are made and entered to computer. Currently, any restriction added to or released from a Sahifa is updated to computer in a daily basis. This is done always by cross checking with the digital Daily Registration Book.

    f) Validations/Quality Control

    Many validations and quality control are performed on tabular data. Many programs are developed to perform cross checking on different data sources (that already available in digital format) to make sure there are no duplicated, contradicted or missed pieces of information. All transaction files are reinvestigated to make necessary updates. Owner names are subjected to a continuous check along with the daily transactions, duplicated owner names are being merged whenever discovered while similar names are clarified. Ownership shares are checked to make sure that each owner is having the correct share. Owner QIDs and names are being checked and validated through the MOI database, any change/addition on the MOI database is being directly reflected in the REIS database.

    3.3.2 Spatial Data Conversion

    This activity handles the transformation of all spatial data sources into digital format. It includes the scanning of all record sheets and Tains, the digitization of parcels and inspections included in record sheets, digitization of Tains, Geocoding of Tains, adding parcels with digital data provided by the GSS of the MMAA, quality controls, check plots, edge matching and database restructuring. Indeed, the GSS database plays a main role in building the spatial database. Home grown applications are prepared to handle spatial data activities, all criteria that suit the nature of the available data are placed in these applications.

    a) Record Sheet Conversion

    I) Parcel Conversion:

    The record sheet conversion was performed through the following activities: First, more than 1200 record sheets of scale 1:500, 1:1000, 1:2000, 1:5000 and 1:10000 were scanned. Next, all parcels registered between 1986 and 1995 and have digital data were received from the GSS in two text files. The first file contains the PIN of the parcel and the beacon numbers. The second file contains the beacon numbers and their corresponding X and Y coordinates (beacons are the parcel corners). In house application was developed to convert the digital data supplied by the GSS into Arc/Info coverages. The created coverages are named as “record sheet coverage”. For each record sheet, record sheet coverage is created, named with that record sheet number and contains all parcels located in this record sheet. Parcels are depicted in red color to distinguish them from the other parcels that do not have digital data and the technician will have to digitize in the next step.

    Next, every “record sheet coverage” was overlaid on the top of its scanned image that was produced at the first step. Of course, the scanned images were registered to their real coordinates before that. The overlaying shows parcels that do not have digital data from the GSS and exist in RERD record sheet. The Heads-Up digitizing technique was applied to digitize these parcels from the scanned image and assign them the blue color, each parcel was assigned its Sam_no. Parcels with red colors (from GSS database) were also assigned their Sam_no.

    As mentioned before, GSS performs surveying tasks not only for RERD but also for many other departments. As a result, digital data received from GSS contains a lot of parcels that not registered yet in RERD. So, in case of any parcel that does not exist in RERD record sheets and only show up in red color (i.e. not registered yet at RERD), a Sam_no equals to 99999 is assigned to the parcel. Also, some of the parcels sent by GSS were exactly on the location of registered parcels in RERD, but some kind of parcellation or unification or reshaping occurred on them, and this new status not registered yet at RERD. In such cases, parcels were also assigned Sam_no 99999. Many of the parcels with Sam_no equals to 99999 were registered later (during the conversion period) and were assigned their corresponding Sam_no.

    II) Inspection Conversion:

    All inspections drawn on record sheets were investigated and classified into three groups. The first group includes all inspections related to parcels already registered with the same shape and area as of the inspection Kroki (Sketch). The second group includes all inspections related to parcels already registered but with different shape and/or area of the inspection Kroki. The third group includes all inspections related to parcels that are not registered yet. The first group was not digitized while the other two groups were digitized.

    The scanned images of record sheets were registered to their real coordinates and Heads-Up digitizing technique was applied to digitize all inspections related to second and third groups. Every inspection was assigned its unique inspection number. For each record sheet, an Arc/Info coverage contains all digitized inspection was created, and named as “inspection coverage”.

    b) TAIN Conversion

    All Tains of parcels registered before 1986 and do not have digital data were identified and scanned. Parcels included in every Tain were digitized using the Heads_up digitizing. Every “Tain coverage” was named by the Tain_no and assigned the number of the record sheet in which the Tain parcel(s) is located. Each parcel in the Tain coverage is assigned its Sam_no. The registered lengths of each parcel were entered and compared with the digitized lengths (graphical lengths), they should be the same within some tolerance. These Tain coverages will be used in the next step (Geocoding). The total number of Tains that cover the period from 1967 to 1986, and represent parcels without digital data are about 30,000 Tain. Moreover, many Tains of parcels registered after 1986 were found without digital data in the GSS database and were also digitized, which increased the amount of effort and time of that activity.

    c) Geocoding

    Geocoding is the process through which the best geometrical representation of the parcel (through the use of the digitized Tain coverage) is placed in the most accurate location of the parcel (through the use of the digitized parcels in the record sheet coverage). This process was performed only for parcels without digital data in the GSS database (mainly those parcels registered before 1986). Those parcels that have digital data are already well defined through the coordinates of the parcel corners.

    Through Geocoding, a new “Final Cadastral Coverage” (CAD) was created. For each record sheet, all parcels having digital data were first transferred from the “record sheet coverage” to its corresponding “CAD coverage” and having the same red color. Next, every “Tain coverage” (includes one or many parcels) was placed on its correct location through the unique identifier of the parcel, that is the Sam_no. This was done by overlaying the “record sheet coverage” created earlier and the “CAD coverage” created at the beginning of this step and places the Tain in its correct position in the CAD coverage. If there is any difference between the parcel as digitized in the “record sheet coverage” and as digitized in the “TAIN coverage”, the parcel’s layout as existing in the “TAIN coverage” was respected. This stage of conversion showed a huge number of parcels mistakenly drawn by RERD surveyors in record sheets, i.e. with a different shape and/or with different side length. Such cases were properly handled through the Geocoding application by checking the registered side lengths and area of the parcel and always compare it with the corresponding graphical values resulted from Tain digitization. The parcel was not allowed to be posted to the final “CAD coverage” without making sure that values are the same (with some tolerance).

    Geocoding was done through a home grown application developed especially for that activity. All precautions were considered to make sure that parcels are handled properly. Scanned images of Tains and Record Sheets as well as the Topographic Database of the CGIS were used to help in placing the parcel in its correct location. Parcels with digital data (red color) were of a great help in placing the geocoded parcels. The geocoded parcels were assigned the green color to be distinguished from the ones having digital data.

    This process was a very difficult and time-consuming task. The geocoded parcels will be subjected to continuous updates through time. Recommendations are made to RERD that in case of performing a transaction on any of these parcels that is not going to change its physical features (as in case of sale, mortgage, etc.), the parcel has to be sent first to the GSS to be accurately surveyed. This way, the accuracy of the spatial database is going to be enhanced by time.

    The previous steps of spatial data conversion (a, b and c) handled parcels registered from 1967 to 1986 (through Geocoding) and from 1986 to 1995 (through capturing parcels having digital data and Geocoding parcels without digital data) and were finished by March 1998.

    d) Adding Parcels Registered After 1995

    At June 1997 all parcels registered after 1995 and of course having digital data in the GSS database were added to their corresponding Final “CAD coverage”. A home grown application was developed to handle this task and to capture the parcel through its unique identifier in the GSS database, that is the PIN, and appends it directly in its corresponding Final “CAD Coverage”. These parcels were assigned the red color as the previous group received from the GSS. This process was run in parallel with the Geocoding process and was of a great help since it produced more accurate parcels that were used in fitting the geocoded parcels properly.

    e) Adding the Daily Registered Parcels

    At the same time the previous task (d) was started, another home grown application was used to append the daily registered parcels (through the manual system that still being used) to their corresponding Final “CAD coverage” in a daily basis. These ways, at the time all tasks of spatial data conversion are finished, there will not be any missing parcels and the database will be up to date.

    Daily transactions are being transcribed in special forms by RERD staff once the parcel is plotted in the hard copy of Record Sheet. The forms are passed to the project team to be entered to computer. These forms contain Sam_no, PIN, Record Sheet number, Tain_no, Transaction number and registered area. Parcels are being captured from the GSS database and appended to their corresponding Final “CAD Coverage” through the unique identifier of the parcel in the GSS database, i.e. the PIN. Each parcel is assigned its Sam_no and the red color.

    f) Quality Control

    This task started on April 1998. It takes care of performing quality control on the Final “CAD Coverages” that were created through the previously discussed conversion stages. A home grown application was developed to handle this task and includes all necessary checks and corrections. During this stage, all duplicated Sam_no as well as missed parcels are fixed. Any overlapping between parcels is clarified. The application allowed the user to perform a lot of operations as needed to make sure that parcels are in the correct location with the correct shape, area and Sam_no. This stage was one of the most critical stages of the spatial data conversion and took a lot of time and effort.

    g) Check Plots

    This task was started on Nov. 1998. Once the quality control stage was thorough, all Final “CAD Coverages” were plotted and checked against the original data source, that is the hard copy of Record Sheets. Any difference between the digital version and the corresponding hard copy of Record Sheet was investigated and fixed. Thousands of parcels were found missed and not plotted on the hard copy of the Record Sheet. Many parcels were found missed in the digital version while exist in the hard copy and vice versa. In many cases the latest status of parcel was not the one reflected on the hard copy or the digital version. A lot of mismatching on Sam_no was found. All these cases as well as many other problems were fixed in the hard copy and/or the digital version of the Record Sheet during this stage.

    h) Edge Matching and Database Restructuring

    I) Edge Matching of CAD Coverages:

    This stage was started by mid of April 1999. Once the Check Plots was thorough and all necessary updates were done, all Final “CAD Coverages” that are record sheet based are edge matched (more than 1200 record sheet). This would provide a seamless spatial database for the State of Qatar. The entire database is being restructured to be based on the zones into which the country is divided. So, the parcel will be queried through the number of zone in which the parcel is located and Sanad Al Mulkiya number of parcel.

    II) Edge Matching of Inspection Coverages:

    This stage was started by mid of May 1999. All “Inspection Coverages” are edge matched. This would provide a seamless database exactly as the one containing parcels. The new REIS will always overlay the Inspection and Parcel coverages in case of any new registration to make sure that no parcel or inspection is located in the new claimed location. If anything is found, the transaction will be stopped until situation is investigated and clarified.

    4. Developing the New System:

    The new REIS is currently under development, it is expected to be finished by end of August 1999. Meanwhile, digital data resulted from conversion activities is being migrated to the new database structure of the final system. Once the whole development activities are thorough, the new system is going to be tested. A parallel run along with the currently used manual system will be applied to test the new system. Next, necessary updates or enhancements will be done. The parallel run period is expected to take two to three months. Results of manual and new system will be compared for each transaction during the parallel run period, If everything is proved to be O.K., the manual system will be stopped completely and the new system will be applied.

    REIS application programs is being developed under Forms 4.5 of Developer 2000 while Reports 2.5 is being used to develop report generating modules. About 300 Form and Report are being developed. In accordance to the year 2000-concern (Y2K), all data entry screens having date fields were broken down into three sub-fields namely the day, month and year. The year field uses the "YYYY" format. Many Sub-Systems are being developed to handle different transaction types as well as REIS applications security and Database maintenance. The following shows some examples of programs per sub-system:

    4.1) Transactions Sub-System:

    a) Ownership Transfer (OT) Module:

    Includes many programs dealing with different transactions related to ownership transfer such as; Sale, Family Grant, Grant to Others, Transfer by Court, Inheritance, Exchange (among different owners as well as among owners and the state), Public Donation, Government Grant, and many others.

    b) Parcel Reshaping Module:

    Includes many programs dealing with transactions that cause a change in the parcel area and/or shape or create a new parcel such as New Registration, Parcellation, Unification and Modification (Adjustment).

    c) Restrictions Module:

    Includes many programs dealing with different types of restriction transactions such as; Mortgage, Court Seizure, Government Restriction, Public Housing Restrictions, Emir Grant Restriction, etc. For each restriction type, there is another program handles the release of such restriction such as; Mortgage Release, Release of Court Seizure, etc.

    Beside these modules/programs there are some other programs handling special transaction functions such as Owner Name Correction, Transaction Type Correction, Administrative Correction, Issue of Lost Sanad Mulkiya (deed), etc.

    4.2) Queries Sub-System:

    Includes many programs handling different queries such as; Parcel(s) Owned by an Owner, Owner(s) of Specific Parcel(s), Cadastral Layout of parcel(s) (Tain Drawings), Cadastral Map of a Specific Area, etc.

    4.3) Reports Sub-System:

    Printing hard copy reports for many queries such as; Parcel(s) Owned by an Owner, Owner(s) of Specific Parcel(s), Cadastral Layout of parcel(s) (Tain Drawings), Cadastral Map of a Specific Area, etc.

    4.4) Fees Sub-System:

    This program handles computation of fees required for each transaction type as stated by laws (fees changes from one transaction to another). The program generates the receipt indicating the transaction type and including all details of required fees.

    4.5) Statistics Sub-System:

    Includes many programs that print different statistical reports such as No. of Owners, Parcels and Ownership according to a specific zone or a specific area or according to the parcel value or according to the owners nationality, a statistical report shows the No. of a Specific Transaction during a particular period of time, No of Completed Transactions during a period of time, No. of Uncompleted Transactions during a period of time and many other statistical reports.

    4.6) Maintenance sub-System:

    This includes programs related to Application Security and Database Maintenance. The programs related to Application Security include adding programs/modules to REIS, Granting of REIS applications, etc. Programs related to Database Maintenance include Look-up Tables maintenance, Database Monitoring, User Session Status, Database Backup and Recovery, Export/Import of a specific table, and many other functions.

    Beside this, the new system provides standardization for all registration procedures. It provides standard forms, contracts and reports related to different transaction types. It also provides accurate and nice outputs.

    5. Conclusions:

    RERD registration procedures that were instituted during the end of 1960’s to handle the workload then are still applied for the current large amount of workload and data. The existing manual system is proved to be incapable of achieving a proper management of land registration issues. Simply, it is not capable of achieving the ultimate goal of providing guaranteed information on all existing rights in land as well as helping in public planning, administration and civil services functions.

    Fortunately, the CGIS of the MMAA has initiated one of the largest GIS projects in the state of Qatar. The ultimate goal of the project is to develop a state of the art computer-based Real Estate Information System (REIS) using GIS. The REIS will address different issues related to the land registration process in Qatar. After more than four years of dedicated and hard work, the Project had converted nearly 55,000 owner names, about 95,000 Sahifa Aqariya, more than 1200 Record Sheets and more than 55,000 Tains into digital format.

    However, on the lighter side of the project, the manual Owner Names Index had been converted into an electronic intelligent querying sub system and was applied by RERD since the first year of the project. New incoming transactions are also passing through a computer based validation system to filter out any anomalies. RERD surveyors are relying on the digital spatial database with Ortho Images to clarify a lot of overlapping problems and to conduct inspections for parcels to be newly registered or reshaped. The new system is expected to be fully implemented before the end of 1999.

    The REIS would provide many benefits include the following:

  1. Eliminate uncertainty concerning the extent and content of rights in land and reduces lack of information on how to resolve dispute problems. Consequently, less litigation and less work for the courts will be provided.
  2. Provide guaranteed information on all existing rights in land and hence provide easier transactions in land.
  3. Converting existing land records into digital format involved comprehensive correction of existing data and hence reduce inconsistency among data sources.
  4. Reduce the long turn-around time and unacceptable delays of registering parcels.
  5. Provide the digital, accurate and up-to-date cadastral database that is urgently needed for many other departments, especially Lands & Acquisition Department and Planning Department as well as for private agencies and the public.
  6. Facilitate digital data exchange between RERD and other interrelated departments.
  7. Facilitate data storing, processing, editing and retrieval.
  8. Provides unlimited information processing functions and analysis at little or no additional human effort.

    6. References:

  9. Mohamed A. Hamouda and Rainier L. Liuistro. (1998) "The Use of GIS in Land Registration Activities, The Qatar Experience". 18th Annual Esri User Conference, July 27-31, San Diego, California, USA.
  10. Mohamed A. Hamouda. (1997) "User Needs Study, the Framework for Establishing a Geographic Information System in the Real Estate Registration Department of the Ministry of Justice". January, Doha, Qatar.
  11. The Center for Geographic Information Systems. (1994) "Request for Proposal, Research on Application Development for Qatar's Land Registration System", Official Document, Doha, Qatar.

    Mohamed Abd EL-Wahab Hamouda
    GIS Coordinator and Project Manager
    The Center for Geographic Information Systems
    State of Qatar
    mhamouda@gisqatar.org.qa