After $4 billion and 18 months, fewer than one-third of the Jamaican population, which is estimated at close to three million, has been counted under the ongoing Population and Housing Census.
The census got under way on Census Day on September 12, 2022.
Opposition Spokesman on Finance, Planning and the Public Service, Julian Robinson made the charge Thursday during his contribution to the 2024/25 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives.
Robinson criticised the Government and the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) for their approach in conducting the census, which he said has driven workers away.
The exercise, which is conducted every 10 years and usually lasts four months, has been severely hampered by resigning workers and citizens who refuse to cooperate, particularly those living in gated and more affluent communities.
Robinson said he noted the arguments made on Tuesday by Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke during his contribution to the budget debate, outlining various reasons for the delay. But, he’s not buying it.
“Despite all his explaining, the fact remains that this government has failed at this exercise. This census, which is done once every 10 years, was badly managed from the beginning, and the legitimate concerns of census workers ignored. No responsible government can plan or budget or deliver to its people without accurate data,” Robinson remarked.
“Yet, after spending $4 billion we are two years beyond the original deadline, and, as I understand it, with two-thirds of the population remaining to be counted and no new deadline in sight. This is simply unacceptable,” Robinson added.
He insisted that fewer than one million Jamaicans had been counted.
“The reality is that the census process was managed badly from the beginning and the legitimate concerns of census workers were ignored. I can give you a laundry list of persons who came to me, who worked under very difficult circumstances,” Robinson said
He outlined that workers have complained that “people set dog pon dem, people run dem, people slam the door in dem face, and many of them had issues. They had issues getting payment through no fault of their own and they still do”.
“And the way the leadership of STATIN dealt with those census workers left a lot to be desired,” added Robinson.
“So after $4 billion, two years after the deadline, my information is that we have not counted one million people,” he said.
Clarke acknowledged the under coverage on Tuesday and said steps were being taken in collaboration with the United Nations to address the challenges.
He noted that there were heightened concerns about privacy, security, and the proliferation of gated communities across the country. According to Clarke, persons living in affluent communities were not very cooperative with census takers and supervisors.
And the finance minister said the COVID-19 pandemic, which delayed the census, also adversely impacted the planning phase, as several adjustments had to be made in response, including the implementation of virtual training.
He pointed out that the challenges were not unique to Jamaica as globally, the 2020 round of censuses has been challenging, with several countries across Latin America and the Caribbean facing similar challenges.
“This led to a coordinated response from the global statistical community led by the United Nations Statistics Division, which implemented several strategies in response to the issues faced during the 2020 round of censuses,” Clarke said.
These include new methodological guidelines for assessing under coverage, enhanced technical support for small area estimation, and several workshops on assessing data quality.
The minister shared that STATIN participated in several of these initiatives at the global and regional levels and has hosted one technical assistance mission on the census.
He said several steps are being taken to assess the extent of the under coverage, and appropriate action will be taken to address the issues encountered using statistically sound techniques, guided by United Nations Statistics Division standards. This, he said, will stand up to scrutiny.
