Online planning approvals for Selangor

NST 29/10/2005 By Chris Prasad

SELANGOR is set to begin implementing a State-wide e-Government project to make planning and building approvals more transparent and efficient, which may serve as a prototype for the rest of the country.

The new online system is expected to reduce approval times considerably, and could bring the current time lag of almost a year down to as fast as 28 days.

According to sources close to the project, planning and building departments in all 12 local councils in Selangor will be fitted with integrated ICT hardware and high-speed broadband connectivity over the next 18 months.

All officers in these departments would be given comprehensive ICT training to upgrade their skills and to establish a knowledge-worker culture.

Under the new system, the source said, developers and consultants will also be able to track the progress of their applications online, as all submissions will be made digitally.

There will be longer be a need for hard copies of plans and documents - and files cannot be misplaced.

Consultants making submissions will be able to use their MyKad and thumbprint to "digitally sign" plans.

The source said the same biometric security will apply to local council officers who wish to access or view any plan or file in the system.

Renovation approvals will also be instantaneous under the new system, based on online templates with flat-rate fees.

It is understood that the RM110 million system will be undertaken on a build-own-operate (BOO) business model, under which the State will incur no cost but will receive all hardware, software, training as well as maintenance for 10 years.

The cost of the system will be paid for via a "toll road" concession model that will see an increase in current planning and building approval processing fees of less than 0.1 per cent.

The source said the fractional increase will deliver benefits as developers and consultants will save significant costs on printing, couriering and storing hundreds of hard copy files and documents.

The move is expected to make all parties involved transparent and accountable for the project approval cycle.

It is learnt that the concession will be managed by a joint venture firm set up by the State's commercial arm Kumpulan Dahrul Ehsan Bhd and a private sector partner, Intecture Sdn Bhd, which is the inventor and developer of the system.