EAST M'SIA STATE TO HAVE OWN COMPREHENSIVE DIGITAL GEOGRAPHICAL IMAGE

KUCHING (Malaysia), June 25 (Bernama) -- A comprehensive digital
geographical image of Sarawak, an East Malaysia state, will be available soon to
provide more accurate information and data for future planning of development
projects in the state.

State Second Minister of Planning and Resource Management Amar Awang
Tengah Ali Hassan said Thursday the three-dimensional (3D) digital image was
expected to be useful for detailed planning and implementation of the Sarawak
Corridor of Renewable Energy (Score) as well other development projects.

"It is my hope that through this programme, we will have a standard and
consistent digital radar image for the entire state of Sarawak," he said at the
signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Sarawak government,
represented by the Land and Survey Department, and NEXTMap Malaysia Consortium,
here.

Under the MoU, both parties will collaborate to come up with the latest
digital imagery of Sarawak and accurate geographical location information to be
named the NEXTMap Malaysia-Sarawak programme.

Awang Tengah said the programme could be used for various applications such
as 3D visualisation, flood modelling, infrastructure design, environmental
planning, engineering planning and mapping.

He said the latest digital image provided under the programme would
complement the digital image taken by aerial survey by the Land and Survey
Department.

"It is beneficial to the various state agencies and local authorities in
further enhancing their service delivery," he said.

The MoU was signed by Land and Survey Department director Sudarsono
Osman and Intermap Technologies senior vice-president (production operations)
Walter Sedlacek, on behalf of NEXTMap Malaysia Consortium.

Intermap Technologies, which has its headquarters in Denver, Colorado, is a
pre-eminent digital mapping company creating uniform high-resolution 3D digital
models of the earth's surface.

-- BERNAMA