With a national population census due this year, Senior Minister within the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, on Thursday assured that it will proceed and that funds have been budgeted for the process.
Singh made this disclosure as the Committee of Supply considered estimates of the Ministry of Finance.
During the consideration of the estimates APNU+AFC Member of Parliament Tabitha Sarabo-Halley enquired whether the ministry’s contributions to the Statistical Bureau would cover a census as it is coming up on ten years since the previous census was done.
In response, Singh noted that 2022 is in fact a census year in accordance with the cycle that was mentioned by Sarabo-Halley. He added that he did mention in his budget speech that a census would be conducted. In the budget speech, Singh had indicated that Census 2022 will establish baseline data sets that will guide policies at all levels.
“For the first time, the national census will utilise Geographic Information Systems [GIS] to improve mapping. The resultant Census data would strengthen evidence-based development planning and support policies and programmes in all areas,” the minister said in the speech.
However, Shadow Minister of Finance, Juretha Fernandes, questioned whether the allocation would be enough to cater for such a large exercise across the country.
Singh then explained that a lot of preparatory work began before the census year and that the Bureau of Statistics has already started those works, which include the development of some of the draft data collection tools, preparation of questionnaires, and the field manuals.
He told the committee, “Embedded in that revised amount for 2021 is in fact some expenditure that would have been incurred in association with the preparatory work because given the vastness of the endeavour that a census is, you know it’s a once in a decade activity, quite a lot of the preparatory work happens.”
According to Singh, census activity does not get completed in the year in which the census is executed and as a result he informed that works will continue beyond the fiscal year 2022 and into 2023 as he emphasised that it is in fact a multi-year activity.
He noted that the amount allocated to the agency, given the information at their disposal, would be able to cover census activities in 2022. “If during the course of the year we ascertain that work is moving more quickly than we anticipated or that there are additional activities that are required to be executed we will of course return to this Honourable House in the manner provided for in law to seek supplementary [funds]…”
The last census found a drop in the country’s population to 746,955 from 751,223 in 2002.
