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Census not going well, says Deputy Premier

A section of the main island of Tortola.

The government’s census has not been moving as quickly as expected and Deputy Premier Lorna Smith has expressed concerns about the pace.

“I just want to take a moment to talk about the census,” Smith said in the House of Assembly recently. “It’s not going well. It is moving too slowly.”

Smith said she would be the first to admit that some of the census questions to the public were intrusive and appeared a little difficult to answer. However, she argued that it was the only way that the government would get some of the important information it needed.

The Deputy Premier, who is also the Labour Minister, said she has since spoken with the Director of the Central Statistics Office, Raymond Phillips, and he explained that persons can complete the census by paper.

Smith suggested that this may be helpful in fast-tracking the process, especially over the holiday season.

Meanwhile, Smith pointed out that the government was seriously challenged by the lack of important data and said she was pleased that the latest budget provided for the development of a digital information strategy.

Smith said the strategy is expected to look at the public and private sectors to improve both productivity and efficiency.

“We have had our own initial discussions internally and also with the United Nations Development Program as one of our partners and I’m happy that a new request for proposals will be going out shortly so that we can commence this very important process,” Smith said.

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9 Comments

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  1. Smh says:

    All party https://www.bvibeacon.com/party-leaders-face-off-in-two-debates/, then why is there so much confusion and delay on public officers salary revision, increments, immigration, crime , census and labor. What is the main goal of the census? Why do we continue to delay public servants increments and salaries revision? What is the justification in revising junior public officers salaries to the equivalent of middle managers salaries? How does this encourage the junior or lower level officer to seek training and advancement? How will low morale in the public service be addressed? All these correlate to labor, better standards of living etc.

    Lord help the BVI!

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  2. No surprise says:

    Neither did the lst one in 2010. It only took until 2016 to release a report. Factor in a year to write it, a year to collect the data, so four year to process the forms. There can’t be more than about 15,000 familites in a Territory of about 35,000, but let’s call it 20,000. That means that, on average 5,000 forms porcessed per year. Since there are abou 200 working days per year, about 25 forms processed per day. Works out yo about 1 form per hour with a staff of three to do so.

  3. datz says:

    Because ayo asking the people them too much shite

  4. Too intrusive says:

    Not only is the census document intrusive, there is no protection of an individuals sensitive and confidential information nor are there any penalties for the misuse of such information, only threats of punitive action by the director of central statistics if you don’t fill it out. Government must be held accountable at all times.

  5. Busy Bee says:

    I’ve not seen an enumerator in my neighbourhood… Is there a method of determining where they had been?

  6. Smack it up flip it rub it down ohh noooo says:

    Hmmm sounds like we need a new deputy governor

  7. Anonymous says:

    Luarna in the corna needs that nap and her oatmeal…otherwise she sounds like Biden

  8. Mestizo says:

    you all need to pic the right people for the job, not your friends

  9. Pity says:

    Its really pitiful that nobody seems too keen on getting a proper census done, maybe the government don’t want to know the real situation so it can keep saying the population is 30 thousand when it’s more like 60 or 70. Keep head in sand, don’t be responsible, let society go however with homelessness and unemployment, and just put police go control the sufferers with brutality and heartless convictions. As long as they getting their money?
    BTW there are various ways to collect statistical data besides a census.

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