March-ing On Blog 4
A little change of pace for the readers this week/month.
March is not exactly living up to its name. Progress on the property “kwans” (a word that can be injected anywhere in a sentence and helps to complete a thought or statement) is moving laterally. It is neither jumping leaps and bounds nor is it standing still. We have five laborers working on the fence with occasional work on the waterwell.
Digging footings by hand and constructing concrete forms is what’s happening, not too exciting. The interesting part is the updating of property titles and identifying the correct lot lines.
For many years property boundaries were identified by round concrete cylinders placed in the corners of the property. These markers are called majons. Other markers included molavi trees or similar plants. But the quickest way to find out the lines are to talk to the old locals that knew the families and were part of any conversation having to do with ownership. They refer to the previous generations by name and know who owned, what and where the property is located.
We used past information from our neighbor Undo who was a land caretaker and friend of the family. He helped me locate the majons and cleared the path for a more accurate line of site layout. But to be sure, you need a surveyor to confirm all markers and how they match up with existing info. In our case, we have been paying property taxes and have our family name on the title. In the current computer age all properties are being documented and identified.
The reason I bring up this topic is that when we used the info from Undo and had it surveyed, further research into the dusty files at the municipality revealed that the northern boundary may actually be 18 meters wider. I described the the lot ID process and title requirements and STILL I am having doubts on the property line…two weeks after starting construction of the wall. This is why foreigners hesitate building in the PI. More on this front later when the wife gets involved. I think the local assessors are getting tired of entertaining me.
I am stopping wall construction at 20 meters and halting well drilling until I can confirm the lot size AND return from my trip home (via Japan).
Back with you next week - early May. Dave
Below are some pics of the Japan trip.
