Vol. 3 No. 1 (2017): Melanesian Journal of Geomatics and Property Studies (MJGPS) Volume 3 - 2017

Editorial Note

It is indeed heartening to witness that the 3rd issue of Melanesian Journal of Geomatics and Property Studies (MJGPS) is being brought out successfully on time. At the time of first publication some of my peers said to me– it is easy to start with a rush of adrenaline, but it is very difficult to continue as the excitement evaporates with time. But then the ‘process of natural decay of excitement’ doesn’t hold good for our executive editor Professor Jacob Babarinde whose steadfast zeal has been keeping our journal vibrant and throbbing in full throttle.

Initial motive behind bringing out this journal was to enthuse our departmental academics to get wedded to sustaining research culture and bring new ideas, shape them in tune with country’s resources development and disaster management aspirations. We are marching ahead briskly in these directions. Our research endeavours are aptly recognised by the Government of the day. Very recently country’s Hon’ble Minister for Planning and Monitoring, Richard Maru visited our department to have a glance at our research outputs directed to his ministerial precinct. Having satisfied himself, Hon’ble Minister has given us a special grant of USD 65,000 exclusively for our lab infrastructure with state of the art set of GNSS receivers. All these will go a long way in churning out quality research outputs towards nation building.

The current issue contains five research papers that cover a wide range of issues in application of science and technology for natural and man-made resources development, planning and management.

I wish all the very best, and a thought provoking, happy reading.

Sincerely,

 Dilip Kumar Pal, PhD (IIT, India), Professor and Head, Department of Surveying & Land Studies ,The Papua New Guinea University of Technology