Chief Statistician Lennox Benjamin says he believes that the upcoming national census will find an increase in Guyana’s population.
“A statement made by an international body a while ago was that by 2050 Guyana’s population would fall to where it is right now. I do not believe this because if that is so there will be lots of empty buildings because while people can migrate buildings can’t,” Benjamin told Stabroek News in a recent interview.
“Since the Second World War there has been a movement globally of persons, this is not new to Guyana. The public and even organisations, we only look at those who are going out, we don’t at who is coming in. We don’t look at our neighbour countries, Brazil for example. Then, internationally, we have China especially, but this was not looked at in that perception of unabated decline,” he said.
The last census, in 2002, found that the country had a population of 751,223. Although the last census found a population increase between 1991 and 2002, it paled in comparison with the births during the same period, supporting conclusions that migration had been the key setback to the population’s growth rate.
September 15 is Census Day and all buildings and persons within Guyana’s borders will be counted. Benjamin said that ships in port will also be a part of the count.
The census is a comprehensive tabulation exercise and is the only one where simultaneously people and buildings are accounted for. It gives demographic, economic and social conditions of a population and illustrates the conditions under which the people live. The collected information can be used for development planning and policy making, among other things.
In addition to the size of the population and its composition, Benjamin emphasised that the results will also arm specific communities with better data to help them seek solutions to their problems.
“This will be an interesting census as not only the public is awaiting information of population size but it can be used to help areas put forward their cases, such as Region Ten,” said Benjamin, who cited the region as example in light of the recent unrest there.
“The census could not have come at a better time for Linden and other areas, as the very case they want to make would come from the information provided on their questionnaires. The public will see what is happening as data will answer questions such as employment, under-and-over employment, socio-economic status, educational qualification compared to jobs had and a list of other information they can refer to as they make their case,” he added.
Guyana, being a member of the United Nations, is obligated to complete the census in the 2010 round, which began in 2005 and ends in 2014.
Enumeration
The counting exercise will last approximately six weeks to two months with over 3,500 enumerators conducting the exercise.
Benjamin said that once the coast is completed, the majority of the work would have been done as the coastlands are the most populated. “Once we move out from the coastland, the majority of work would have been completed. This is not to say that the outlying areas are easy because we know the logistical makeup of Guyana and that can pose some challenges,” he said.
In this regard, he noted that the Bureau had been actively working along with village leaders. “All of the areas are overseered by a regional census coordinator. Very central to our planning was assistance from the toshaos, through the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs. We have continued to have tremendous support from the toshaos in putting together information and intimate knowledge of the area,” he added.
Meanwhile, Benjamin is urging residents to be participative when enumerators show up to take data. He said that a major concern of Guyanese is that the census was being used to “mind their business.” However, he dismissed this claim, while outlining the benefits of having a census.
He explained that census enumerators were trained to deal with persons who they deem “difficult” although the percentage of such persons does not account for much. “There is this concept by some that the census is intrusive and out to mind people’s business. Our training equips workers for difficult respondents. We will have sensitisation exercises to let residents understand why it is necessary to have this census, such as the benefits of the count as well as efficient supplementary information,” he said.
“Residents will be asked questions from two questionnaires, one for an individual, and a household. …We don’t ask in the census anything about a person’s income because that is an uneasy question among most, as men don’t like to be questioned about their income in front of their wives. We explain the linkage importance, referencing that the same type of questions are asked in other Caricom countries,” he added.
He said that the census can also be used to quell myths such as the popular “to every one male there are three females.” “I recall the misguided concept that there are three females to one male what the last census showed was that it is one to one,” he said. “There is much misinformation out there and the census information can debunk them,” he added.
Security concerns
Plans have also been put in place to address security concerns of residents and Benjamin stressed the importance of identification of census workers.
“We cannot underscore enough the importance of security and our workers will be trained to deal with this concern. I have faith that there will be little problems in this area as we conducted the last census under worse conditions – during the 2002 crime wave… we pride ourselves that with an aggressive PR campaign to assure householders of the relative safety accepting enumerators and ensuring that they are properly identified and if it worked then it will now,” he said.
The results of the census will be given to Caricom for them to internally access how the region has evolved over the last ten years.
