UPDATE: Governor approves census penalties
Director of the Central Statistics Office Raymond Phillips has revealed that the Governor has empowered Phillips’ office to issue tickets to persons who withhold census data from enumerators.
Enumerators have been in the field since last year but are yet to wrap up the data collection exercise because many residents have been unwilling to share information.
This pushed lawmakers to impose penalties on uncooperative individuals, but Phillips said he hopes they never have to resort to imposing these penalties.
“I don’t want to do it but there have been too many instances where persons – for whatever reason – are mean to enumerators and tell them they won’t answer questions. I have to wonder why. We do everything to make it less intrusive for the households and it really wasn’t my pleasure to go before the House of Assembly to put a penalty in place for persons to give data,” Phillips explained.
In a statement to BVI News on May 2, 2024, Phillips informed our news centre that the law in question, which contains penalties for those who withhold census information, was approved by the Governor on April 9th and gazetted by Cabinet April 16th 2024. This means that the authorities are allowed to ticket residents who chose to withhold their data from enumerators.
Uncooperative persons will be given a seven-day notice and can choose to give the census information during this time. If they still refuse to share their information after the seven days, they will be ticketed. And instead of $5,000, which lawmakers initially proposed as a penalty, persons may be fined $3,000 for withholding the vital information.
“It’s just like any other offence that’s committed. I’m sure that many of the fines that are in place for different infractions, I’m sure they are there to prevent people from committing those infractions, not for the government to make money,” Phillips added.
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going to fix our infrastructures ? ? ?
is saying )> frankly saying , there are more urgent things thst needs the attention of your government whose heads seems to be some place else
There will be no enforcement. There is never any enforcement here. Even if tickets are issued no one will pay them and there will be no repercussions. It’s the same with any tickets the police issue here. People just throw the ticket in the garbage and move on. Is the. I even a real place?
Another reason for our independence
Too much questions to answer, takes up your time just when you don’t want to be bothered. Cut down on those questions and find a better way to get the information. The census should be done in phases.
Penalties also needs to be included for those who take people information and put it on the street.
I understand the importance of this information. But fining individuals who withhold their personal information seems unethical and may be a breech of rights.
Thank you Governor, because the same politicians proposing these stiff penalties are the same ones that are refusing to declare their interests to the people of the BVI, who coincidentally are their bosses. Such hypocrites! The same ones that are agreeing to the “Greedy Bill”, such hypocrites… And I could go on and on and on.
don’t you mean fake ting , blondie , please stay on your yello site ,and keep on writing & blogging and hollering your ” free the drew , but the damage has been done , the ( drew ) should not known better , if you betrayed the wannabe liberator , you already know what he is capable of, and when you had to tap him on his shoulder to get him to stop the war with (mark) which was a losing battle and another waste of tax payers money , that infuriated his ego , and we know you love to have your own way , so talk on the streets is you who set he up , and now scapegoating the governor & the UK , to cover your tracks , you are really clever, but you will talk & talk until U TARK on yourself ■ more power to U
Still waiting to be contacted!
I found the census very intrusive. They even want to know if your boyfriend lives with you. In these times of burglars and break ins, security is big for me. I did not feel safe answering some of the questions as I live alone. The enumerator said it was confidential but who knows….we live in the BVI right!!!!
Maybe you guys should pay for the damn information instead of here finding persons.
No one came to me last census or this one. What about fining the census takers who don’t attempt to contact everyone?
In the USA they saw fit to enshrine silence as a constitutional right. Yet here we are fining people for not putting their business in writing in a small place to hear it on the street or be a security concern.
The USA gets data from persons using all kinds of systems. You cannot get services in the USA without coughing up the data. So while you have the right to silence if you want something you better give something in the USA.Just amazing how Caribbean people want services and want infrastructure but do not understand where and how they come about.