Dear Editor,
With reference to Mr Lloyd Davidson’s letter dated Wednesday, June 27, 2012, captioned ‘A census allows a government to plan for its people,’ as Mr Davidson indicated, census-taking goes as far back as Biblical times. Moses was not the only Biblical figure in those times to take a census, but the Romans, prior to the birth of Jesus Christ also had a decree that a census be taken, and this had caused Joseph and his wife Mary to travel back to the town of Bethlehem where Jesus was born.
Census-taking is not a new phenomenon and the modern census is conducted under the aegis of the United Nations to which all countries that are members of the UN conform. Censuses are conducted in ten-year cycles and the current 2010 round of global Population and Housing Censuses commenced in 2005 and will run until the end of 2014, after which the 2020 global round of censuses will commence. Guyana with the other member countries of Caricom traditionally conduct their censuses close to the middle of the global census round, thus for the current 2010 round all other countries of Caricom (excluding Haiti for obvious reasons) already conducted their censuses during the years 2010 and 2011. Guyana and Suriname are the two Caricom countries remaining to execute their censuses, and both have targeted this year to so do.
Census-taking has evolved over time into a Population and Housing Census focusing not only on the size of the population, but also on the key social and demographic aspects of the population including the living conditions and living arrangements of residents of the country. Take note my emphasis is on residents and not on citizens, since the population of a country does not only consist of persons who are citizens by birth but also naturalized and citizens of other countries who are resident in the country at the time of census.
Guyana conducted its last Population and Housing Census in 2002 and as the only legal authority to conduct a Population and Housing Census in Guyana, the Bureau with the approval of government as announced by the Minister of Finance in his Budget presentation in March of this year, is in the process of preparing to execute the census in the second half of 2012.
In preparation for the census, our personnel are in the field preparing field maps, conducting fact-finding visits in all ten administrative regions, and recruiting persons to work on this massive exercise, and the sensitization of the public has commenced.
Approximately five thousand persons have to be employed for the two-month period of census enumeration which is so unique as it is the only occasion where every building within the borders of Guyana has to be visited, recorded geographically and the occupants interviewed and recorded in keeping with the global standards of census enumeration set out by the United Nations.
In response to Mr Davidson’s question, the enumeration aspect of the census has not commenced but preparatory activities are underway.
At this point, I would like to ask every person resident in Guyana to cooperate with our enumerators when they visit their homes to conduct the interviews. If no one visits your home during the enumeration period, please contact the Bureau of Statistics on the numbers listed below to indicate this.
Contact numbers for Bureau of Statistics, Census Office: 227-3377 / 227-0480 / 227-1155.
Yours faithfully,
Lennox Benjamin
Chief Statistician/Census Officer
Bureau of Statistics
