GUYANA’S main statistical authority, the Bureau of Statistics, received a permanent home for the first time when President David Granger commissioned its new office at Main Street, Georgetown, on Friday.
The building housing the bureau was refurbished to the tune of $160 M.
Chief Statistician Lennox Benjamin was also honoured at the occasion for his distinguished service to the agency, which he has served for some 43 years.
President David Granger said housing the bureau was one of his chief concerns since he assumed office in May, 2015.
At the time, the various departments of the bureau were housed in three separate buildings in the city.
The agency is tasked with providing active, comprehensive, reliable, relevant and timely statistics to public and private individuals.
Its functions are outlined in the Statistics Act. The agency collects, compiles, analyses, abstracts and publishes statistical information.
Granger said a stable home will help the bureau to effectively manage its work.
“This Government requires good statistics. This Government is associated with accountability and transparency in policy-making and these in turn depend on accurate, reliable and timely statistics,” President Granger said.
He said the availability of accurate and timely information is vital in helping the Government, private sector and civil society make “informed decisions.”

These, he reasoned, “allows for analysis to be made on the basis of evidence”, providing the bases for revalidating or invalidating of certain proposals.
Statistics also help Government to design policies, determine the social and economic impact of policies and monitor progress in the country.
The President said with a new building, the work of the bureau is expected to improve in volume and value, and allow for institutional strengthening through the spread of a data-collection culture throughout the public service.
Government is also committed to recruiting and training staff to strengthen the institution to serve the wider population, he said.
“Information services are integral to professionalising the public services and will allow public services managers to assess the performances of their agencies…. The Cooperative Republic of Guyana must preserve the culture which pays attention to the importance of data-collection and generation,” Mr Granger said.
Finance Minister Winston Jordan who also spoke at the commissioning, expressed satisfaction and said he is satisfied the bureau now has building of its own, less than two years after Chief Statistician Benjamin approached him on the matter.
“After years of living in borrowed and rented properties, the bureau has been given a permanent home,” Jordan said, while pointing out that the agency has also been empowered to facilitate a more efficient coordination of data processing, data-collection and publishing of statistics on Guyana.