Joseph - Land Records

1. Digitalization of Land
Registers
Bertrand JOSEPH,
Economist-Planner and Land Use Specialist
Haiti Priorise Conference, Port-au-Prince, 30th
May 2017

2. Study context and motivation
• Haiti is densely populated (393 inhabitants / km2) and the property
structure is dominated by:
• A tradition of private property - giving rise to a widespread small plots of land
(1,026,000 plots)
• Inconsistencies in land titles and land transfers
• Land disputes that are difficult for the justice system to deal with
• Limitations in the public institutions and professionals in charge of property
• Disordered management of archives - leads to long waiting periods (3 to 18
months for 1 transfer) and transaction costs of up to 25% of the value of the
property (Haiti Property Working Group)
• Planned intervention: Reduce the time and cost of transactions by
digitalizing land archives

3. Digitalization of Land Registers in Haiti

4. Description of the Intervention
•Objective: Set up a digitalized archive management system in order to reduce the
transaction times and the cost of information storage
•Intervention components:
a)Restoration and inventory of land archives in preparation for digitalization
b)Acquisition of computer hardware
c)Design of the architecture for the land information system
d)Digitalization and vectorization of land and topographic documents
e)Storage of land and topographic information
f)Implementation of the computerized information system
g)Training of Land Services’ staff

5. Intervention Costs
• Cost 1: Digitalization development costs (Cost of software - New computers -
Cost of digitalizing existing archives - Cost of extending system access to private
professionals (Notaries) - Cost of raising awareness among the population - Other
start-up costs)
• Cost 2: Operating system costs – Salaries for systems analysts - Internet
connection fees – Costs of public information – Costs of computer system
maintenance - Costs related to "dormant disputes" that will be generated by the
digitalization and reconciliation of problem titles during scanning) Total costs (at
the rate of 5%) for 12 years: 8,365,855,586 gourdes
• From these costs, the cost of handling the disputes, alone, is: 8,293,243,688 or a
rate of 99.13%

6. Benefits of the Intervention
• Savings in administration and storage costs (Decreases, storage costs, DGI)
• Savings in operating costs (Decreases, staff costs, DGI)
• Savings of annual time costs (Time benefits)
• Reduction of interest on loan payments (Greater access to credit and loan
security)
These benefits are estimated to be (at the same rate of 5% over a period of 12
years): 21,404,328,902 gourdes.
Note: The main advantage is the reduction of interest on loan payments

7. Calculation of the Cost-Benefit Ratio
Discount Rate 3% 5% 12%
Data
Quality
BCR: With costs of dispute
management 2.76 2.55 2.00
Limited
318.68 293.75 223.16
Limited
BCR: Without costs of
dispute management

8. Conclusion
Observations and Recommendations
First observation: Digitalization will have a great consequences for society, given
the "dormant" disputes it will generate
Second observation: In order to reduce or prevent these costs, the State must
make the necessary arrangements to sort out certain existing social
arrangements to allow a smooth transition to digitalization
Third observation: Supporting measures
a)Promote land reform that respects property rights and contributes to social
harmony
b)Revise the legal framework on land for adaptation
c)Reconcile property titles and strengthen the courts
d)Strength institutions and professionals.