Census delay ‘recommended’

A money and manpower shortage should delay the 2020 census by another year, Director of the Barbados Statistical Service (BSS) Aubrey Browne has recommended.

He told reporters that the department has planned to use technology to conduct the once-every-decade housing and population count, which is due to begin in May.

Browne said he has already made a request to Minister of Economic Affairs Marsha Caddle for the extension so the department could put the technology in place.

The BSS, one of 51 government departments, currently falls under the ambit of the Division of Economic Affairs.

Browne said it was now up to Caddle to make a case for the department to get the time it needed, adding that by using new technology to conduct the survey, a lot of time in production and disseminating the count would be saved.

Browne told reporters: “Our main challenge now is to prepare for the next population census, trying to organize ourselves so that we can conduct the population census using technology.

“So we are going to be using available technology to gather information in the field using tablets for example. That is our main challenge at the moment trying to organize the transformation of moving to gathering our statistics for the population census via tablets.

“At this stage, we are making a recommendation to Government that it be postponed by a year to May 2021.

“So we would have to await the decision of our Prime Minister as to whether we will postpone it to May 2021.

“We still have a challenge with resources, so right now we are not adequately prepared to conduct it in May next year,

The 2010 census, the 13th in the country’s history, counted the population at 226,193, but estimated it upwards to 277,821, after a high under-count was taken into consideration.

Browne spoke to reporters on the sidelines of the Caribbean Thematic Conference at the UN House.

The three-day meeting is part of a series of regional conferences organized to further understand and prioritize the emerging needs of statistical organizations to adapt and develop and exchange experiences and strategies.
marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb