THE 2012 population enumeration exercise (census) will continue throughout November with the intention of facilitating completion by all enumeration staffers in the face of some challenges experienced in the field during the initial six-week period. This is according to Chief Census Officer Lennox Benjamin in a press release issued by the Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday.
Mr. Benjamin said that “…the concept of the census is that there should be a total count; therefore, the enumeration period would be brought to a close when the enumerators have completed a total count of the resident population.”

He related that the initial timeframe of six weeks was an administrative decision based on best estimates at the time, and was not a legal requirement for the conduct of the census. He disclosed that the Chief Census Officer has the prerogative to extend the period in the interest of quality of the enumeration.

According to him, the census exercise has moved apace in many areas of the country, but challenges remain in some remote areas of Regions 1, 7, 8 and 9, and in the pockets of densely populated areas, especially in Region 4.

Overall, the enumeration exercise benefited from the prolonged dry spell, which made travel to many locations easy. However, the considerably reduced water levels in rivers and creeks, due to the low rainfall in some areas, have made access along some of the waterways difficult.

According to the release, in some densely populated areas of Region 4, there is a significantly high number of requested ‘call-back’, and there also remain embedded pockets of reluctance to cooperate with enumerators.

“In many of these areas, management teams were required to make visits to support enumerators experiencing difficulty. On the positive side, there are many areas where the enumerators have benefited from the activities of community leaders, who have helped by providing explanations and education to their fellow residents,” the release stated.

According to the release, the census, at the moment, has been more than 90% completed in four of Guyana’s 10 administrative regions. Regions 2 (Pomeroon/Supenaam), and 5 (Mahaica/Berbice) have been fully completed; and the completion rate of Region 6 (East Berbice/Corentyne) is also 99.0%. There are, however, just a small number of rechecks to be finalised in those regions.

“Likewise, Region 9 is 95.7% completed, with just one very remote location now being accessed by a team from head office, which would conclude the full coverage of Region 9. Region 10 is 82.9% completed, with work in progress to complete the outstanding riverine areas/communities in the shortest possible time. All other areas, including the densely populated Region 4, are on average over 75% completed”, the release stated.

Also, completed forms from all areas have been arriving at the Bureau’s main offices, so that the second phase, the editing and coding of the completed questionnaires, has simultaneously commenced, for which a further eighty-one (81) temporary staff were trained and are now employed.