Upgrading Saba Cadaster in the works

Members of the Saba Island Council and Executive Council on Friday, January 24, attended a presentation about the status of the Saba Cadaster by Head of the Planning Bureau Robert “Bobby” Zagers and Riency Holder of Cadaster Bonaire.

The Saba Cadaster is in the process of upgrading. The Cadaster incorporates land registry, land survey and mapping. The task of land registry, meaning the registration of all notary deeds and the rights regarding the use of land such as mortgages, right of way and usufruct, is being carried out by the Planning Bureau of the Public Entity Saba.

After seeing the land registry software used by the Bonaire Cadaster in 2016, the idea evolved of implementing similar software for the land management on Saba. The result was KadorSab, a web-based application programmed by the Curaçao company ICT Labs.

With KadorSab, books are no longer used. With the assistance of the Netherlands Cadaster and the Bonaire Cadaster, the programming and implementing of KadorSab started. This involved the scanning and digitalizing all notary deeds and other registries. Three interns, Donald Hassell, Kavita Leverock and Hilary Zagers, were very helpful in populating the data into KadorSab and the linkage to subjects and objects.

The verification process has been completed, and since January 1, 2020, KadorSab is being officially used to register properties on Saba. The KadorSab system is faster and more efficient, and also speeds up the process of sharing information with the notaries. KadorSab facilitates a faster parcel management, is accessible online, it generates dynamic reports and it provides an overview of deeds registered.

Presently, the St. Maarten Cadaster functions as the land surveyor for Saba to measure and to draw up the certificates of admeasurement. Cadaster Saba plans to introduce two other systems, the Global Positioning System GPS and the mapping software ARCGIS, in the first half of 2020 so Cadaster Saba can do its own surveying and measuring of land/properties. Utility companies SEC and Satel, as well as the Public Works Department, will also be able to make use of the ARCGIS system. Public Works will be able to see where the SEC and Satel cables are located in case of repair or digging work.

The Netherlands Cadaster (Kadaster Nederland) and the Bonaire Cadaster (Kadaster Bonaire) are assisting Saba in the upgrading of its Cadaster. “We are very appreciative of their assistance. A special thanks to the Netherlands Cadaster for helping to finance the first phase,” said Commissioner Rolando Wilson, who attended Friday’s presentation by Riency Holder and Bobby Zagers.

Others who attended the meeting were Island Governor Jonathan Johnson, Island Council Members Carl Buncamper, Esmeralda Johnson and Eviton Heyliger and Island Registrar Akilah Levenstone.

GIS Saba