mswkt = '''GEOGCS["Chatham Islands 1979",DATUM["Chatham_Islands_Datum_1979",SPHEROID["International 1924",6378388,297],TOWGS84[174.05,-25.49,112.57,0,0,-0.554,0.2263]],PRIMEM["Greenwich",0,AUTHORITY["EPSG","8901"]],UNIT["degree",0.0174532925199433,AUTHORITY["EPSG","9122"]],AUTHORITY["EPSG","4673"]]''' m = mapObj('') m.setWKTProjection(mswkt) lyr = layerObj(m) lyr.setWKTProjection(mswkt)