The government will create special laws to safeguard the security mapping of national utilities from future conflicts.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the Department of Survey and Mapping (Jupem) had been given the mandate to manage the storage of information on utilities for the country obtained from utility owners or utility coordinating agencies at the state-level.

"The utility map obtained by the government cannot simply be divulged because there are security implications, especially during times of conflict with other parties, it must be guarded as best as possible.

"As such, it must be stored in a certain manner and must be a restricted document which is protected by law," Wan Junaidi told reporters after presenting competency certificates to 38 graduates of the Third Certification Course on Underground Utility Detection and Mapping Convocation.

The ceremony was organised by the Malaysian Certified Land Surveyors Association together with the Land Surveyor Board and Jupem.

- Bernama