After failing to meet two deadlines, the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) now says the 2022 Population and Housing Census will continue indefinitely.

The disclosure was made by STATIN Director General Carol Coy, who said there has been a shift in the agency’s focus.

“The focus now is to get the data collection wrapped up. So, we will not be releasing a (completion) date because our focus is to look at the constituencies and see the proportion of the [enumeration districts] that have been covered and what we have put in,” said Coy.

She added that STATIN is placing emphasis “on ensuring that adequate data are available to provide sound estimates of the population count and key population and household indicators”.

However, she could not say what percentage of the population is already counted.

“The percentage varies, and the issue is that you can be in an enumeration district… and the [district] is not yet completed. So at this point, what STATIN does is when we are completed with the count, we will provide the numbers that we have estimated and the numbers that were counted,” she explained.

CENSUS STILL UNDER BUDGET

The data collection process for the census was initially set to be completed in December 2022. However, after challenges with recruitment, a new date of March 2023 was set but there have been further delays and the process is yet to be completed.

With J$2.4 billion of tax dollars budgeted to complete the exercise, Coy has assured that there will be no cost overrun even with the delays.

“[Workers] are paid per questionnaire that they would have completed. So, the budget was made up based on the number of questionnaires completed. So even if we have extended the data collection period, that would not impact the overrun on the budget. We estimated so many persons living in Jamaica, so therefore this is what the budget would have been built on and not on the number of census workers or the length of time they spend in the field,” she explained further.

The STATIN boss admitted that there have been issues with compensation to workers. However, she assured workers that the agency is working to resolve the issue and have them paid on time.

Coy explained that the issue with compensation arises when a worker hands in a questionnaire but the document is not completed at the set standard. Workers must first resolve the issue before they are compensated.

A visitation record listing all the buildings they visited in the district must also be submitted before payment.

“All census workers were advised of the criteria for payment as per their employment contract. We encourage data collection staff to correct and return rejected questionnaires and submit their
VR with all buildings within the [enumeration district] listed correctly in a timely manner, as this will speed up the payment process,” said Coy.

The target recruitment for the census was 7,000 workers. However, Coy said the agency has only been able to recruit some 4,000 workers, with the number fluctuating because of availability of more lucrative employment options.

A population census is done every 10 years to update the population’s demographic and plan accordingly. This is Jamaica’s 15th census.

The data collection phase for the 2022 National Population and Housing Census started on September 12, 2022, under the theme ‘Yuh Count, Mi Count, All A Wi Count’.