Wong (second right) and his personal assistant Roderick Wong (right) are seen with the complainants.
SARIKEI (Aug 18): The Land and Survey Department has been asked to review its procedure for processing transmission of property applications.
Sarikei MP Andrew Wong Ling Biu claimed the department’s regulation requiring photocopies of supporting documents to be certified by the issuing officer is “ridiculous” and inconvenienced applicants.
“For instance, if the Letter of Administration is issued by the Tanjung Manis District Officer, the department would not accept photostat copies certified by any other officer or office,” he told a press conference yesterday.
According to Wong, it should be the responsibility of the department’s processing officer to verify the authenticity of the document, instead of asking the applicant to search for the issuing officer.
He pointed out it was unreasonable to ask an applicant from Sarikei to travel to other district Offices in the state to verify documents.
Wong called for the department to recognise high ranking officers, including members of parliament and state assemblypersons to certify documents.
He showed an official letter from the department to the press stating that it was a departmental procedure to only accept photostat copies of the Probate and Letter of Administration submitted for application for transmission that had been certified a true copy by the issuing officer.
“This is to ensure that the photostated document is actually issued by the office concerned and thus to avoid fraud,” the letter explained.
According to the letter, there have been instances in the past where a document is certified by another party other than the issuing officer and turned out to be a forged document.
“No certification is required if the original copy of the same is produced at the time of admitting an Application or Transmission,” stated the letter.
“As for Probate, normally there is a Will being prepared. As a matter of practice, the Land Registry Office will require a copy of the Will be produced prior to the acceptance and registration of the transfer so that the execution of the transfer is in accordance with the Will.”