Land register to offer chance for more hirings

Greece may still not have a proper land register, but it is about to obtain a new and oversized public corporation to fulfill that role: the Hellenic Cadaster (OEKT), a body designed to replace the existing National Cadaster and Mapping Agency SA (EKXA, or simply Ktimatologio).

There are two major differences between the old and the new agencies: The new one will be a state entity, as opposed to Ktimatologio, which is a private company, taking away some of the flexibility in governance and organization the land registry currently enjoys. The other difference is that the new company will have three times as many staff as the existing one. The bill, which is set to be put forward for public consultation, provides for 1,017 jobs, against 368 jobs today at Ktimatologio.

This expansion of staff numbers will entail an increase in administrative organization and in offices space to house the extra personnel. Therefore, the bill provides for new land registry offices across the country: There will be 16 main offices and some 184 branches, according to the bill. For instance, just on the island of Lesvos there will be one land registry office and five branches.

Critics of the move see it as wasteful “at a time when the state is shutting down tax offices,” according to a source who is aware of the plans.