The initial resistance by the public to talking with the census enumerators, especially in Region Four has been overcome says Chief Statistician, Lennox Benjamin.
Benjamin told Stabroek News over the weekend that the Population Census has begun to gather momentum five weeks into the enumeration exercise and that work is being intensified to complete the enumeration exercise in Regions One (Barima/Waini), Seven (Mazaruni/Cuyuni) and Eight (Potaro/Siparuni).
Benjamin said the resistance generated by the insecurity arising from the crime wave has been largely dissipated and the concern now is about the personal nature of the questions related to income, especially in the high-income areas.
Benjamin said to deal with those who refuse to provide this information, the enumerator accompanied by the area supervisor would make a second visit to interview the householder. If this fails then the area co-ordinator would be called in. If there is still resistance, Benjamin says that the Census Office would then step up to ensure voluntary compliance with the law.
During this week too, Benjamin said the Census Bureau would begin to do a general assessment of the work being done by the enumerators to determine their compliance with the guidelines they were given during their orientation and training. He said the assessment would be done by random checks on the work completed in the various enumeration districts.
The enumeration of the population for the National Population and Household Census is being conducted with reference to September 15, which was designated Census Day. All answers therefore refer to a person's or household's socio-economic status on that particular day.