Amendment of Land Survey Ordinanceand Determination of Land Boundaries The Legislative Council Joint Subcommittee on Amendment to Land Titles Ordinance under the Panel on Development and Panel on Administration of Justice and Legal Services had discussed the subject on determination of land boundaries and amendment of the Land Survey Ordinance (LSO) in the meetings held on 7 October and 7 December 2009 respectively. The Administration had presented papers (paper No. CB(1)538/09-10(01)) and briefed the Subcommittee members the proposed system of determination of land boundaries and the related amendment to LSO. Under the proposal, an authorized land surveyor shall deliver the plans and survey report of and subdivision to the Land Survey Authority for checking before registering these instruments in the and Registry ("check before registration"). This is a great improvement to the existing "registration before check" system. The LSD has studied the proposal and submitted comments to the Subcommittee, in particular, on the defect of the existing "registration before check" system, the hardship caused to authorized land surveyors and the potential disputes caused between the future vendor and purchaser of the property. We have also requested the Administration to consider introducing an appeal mechanism to review the decision made by the Director of Lands in relation to determination of boundaries. The LSD's submission (paper no. CB(1)639/09-10(01)) can be found at the Leg Co website http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr09-10/english/panels/lto/papers/ltocb1-639-1-e.pdf Contribution of the Land Surveyingand Geomatics Profession to Infrastructure Projects The opening ceremony of the poster design competition on "Contribution of the Land Surveying and Geometrics Profession to Infrastructure Projects" was held on 30 December 2009. The competition participants were students of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (LSGI, HK PolyU). The purpose of organizing this event was to promote the land surveying and geomatics services to professionals, employers and the general public. It also enabled geomatics students to understand the role of a land surveyor in infrastructure projects. Thanks to theHKIS voluntary advisors, Mr Ronald Chan, Mr YC Chan,Mr TY Chung, Mr Stanley Kar, Mr. Penfield Lau, Mr .VictorNg, Mr. Terry Sham, Mr. TN Wong, Mr Frankie Yip, Mr.KM Yiu and Mr , SC Yu, who will give guidance to the studentsin the coming months and help them to understand theservices and the contribution of our profession. We will organise site visits to the infrastructure project sitesand organisations for the students to see the surveyorsin action and how they work with their counterparts.This event is jointly organised by HKIS (Land SurveyingDivision), RICS Hong Kong (Geomatics Professional Groupand Matrics) and the HK PolyU (LSGI and its AlumniAssociations). Meeting with the Ministry of Housingand Urban and Rural Development(住房和城鄉建設部) The HKIS delegation consisting of representatives from theLSD, QSD, BSD, GPD and PFMD attended the meeting organised by the Development Bureau of HKSAR and the Ministry ofHousing and Urban and Rural Development at Beijing on 15 December 2009. In the meeting,the delegates from Hong Kong and the Mainland reportedthe achievements in the past year and the work plannedfor the coming year. For the land surveying profession,we have requested the Development Bureau to liaisewith the Mainland counterpart to arrange a meeting forus to meet with them for understanding the progress of implementation of Registered Land Surveyor in the Mainland.