A one-day workshop on the Mauritius e-Registry Project (MeRP) at the Registrar-General Department (RGD) was held on August 17 at the InterContinental Resort, Balaclava, for the staff of the department. The first phase of the project will be implemented in January 2014.
The objective of the workshop is to apprise the staff of the different aspects of the project and the benefits to be derived thereafter. Some 150 officers participated in the workshop aimed to familiarising themselves on the new eservices to be provided under the MeRP.
The project which will help transform the RGD from a Service to an e-Service organisation, will harness the latest technologies and solutions that can provide integrated workflows and options for businesses, professionals and members of the public to conduct online transactions with the RGD. It will cater for online and offline submission, taxation, payment, registration and delivery of documents.
The MeRP is being jointly funded by the Government of Mauritius and the Investment Climate Facility for Africa to the tune of around Rs 170 m. It will be implemented in two phases stretched over a span of two years, hence enabling the RGD to have an integrated system for its customers.
The first phase pertains to the modernisation of RGD through the implementation of the e-Registry software system whereby most of the automated tasks and services will be provided through sophisticated software tools. The System will comprise the following features: Integrated cashier and registration module; Integrated search engine for registered document (movable); Taxation module; Reporting engine; User and security administration module; and Digitisation of Land Archive (immovable).
The second phase which will focus on transforming the services to electronic mode will come into operation by mid-2014. The key objective is to provide the RGD and stakeholders an electronic dashboard through which they can perform the following tasks: e-Submission of documents; e-Payment of fees; e-Registration; e-Search; and e-Delivery of registered documents.
A similar workshop was held earlier this year for the different stakeholders of the RDG to sensitise them on the implementation of the project following which the following developments have been noted: an inception report has been submitted on the project by the Joint Venture Norway Registry Development and SAS Software Solutions Ltd.; the contractor for an e-Registry system under the MeRP; a prototype of the system has been presented on August 14 by the representatives of the Joint Venture. The Department is presently carrying out an evaluation exercise for the setting up of a world class customer service area.
The RGD, which operates under the aegis of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, is the central agency for maintaining a repository of all documents that are registered which include immovable (land, mortgage) and movable property (share, vehicle) transactions and any other documents. It also has the responsibility of collecting revenue in terms of taxes associated with registration activities.
The Department has so far embarked on various reforms for a better service delivery towards its customers. Among them, the setting up of an electronic search room with 58 stations to facilitate search on land transactions; the paper-based Name Index Register, the Repertories have been digitized and integrated into the RGD Electronic System; and the paper-based Register of Deposits (Registre de Presentation) has been converted into an Electronic Register and linked to the Electronic Search Room. Registered deeds are delivered within 24 hours.
As at date, more than 95% of paper-based deeds archived in the Land Registry of the RGD have been scanned and kept in the Digital Cadastral Database of LAVIMS project which is expected to be completed by October this year.
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