Census late, but coming as electronically captured survey of the populous

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, July 25, 2022 – The National census set for a June start this year is behind schedule according to Finance Minister E. Jay Saunders whose ministry oversees the statistics Department.  Saunders explained the reasons for the holdup of the critical and labor intensive process in a press conference on July 14th.

“The counting hasn’t started because it’s going to be done with electronic devices so those are being procured but we expect the counting to start in the fourth quarter of this year between October and December.”

At the very least the administrative part of the national census has begun.  The final report is to be tabled before July 2023.  The census was announced by Minister of Physical Planning and infrastructure development Akeirra Misick earlier this year in the House of Assembly (HOA) and should have started in June.

Saunders had appealed to residents in the HOA earlier this year stressing that the census held the key to several initiatives the government was planning on implementing.

“The 2022 census will be the most comprehensive data source on the population and housing conditions in the country and will help the government better understand the conditions in which the people of these islands live as we seek to improve the quality of their lives.”

Saunders said the people should get ready to start seeing workers at their doors in just a few months.