Maru promises a better census next year

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By DALE LUMA
NEXT year’s national population and housing census will cost at least K150 million and the minister has promised to do it better than the previous exercise which was a “failure”.
National Planning and Monitoring Minister Richard Maru said they would engage international experts and use technology in the census operations to improve from the last census.
Maru said this when announcing the launching of the census by Prime Minister James Marape tomorrow.
“The cabinet has approved the census and we are set for the prime minister to launch the 2020 national census which will cost between K150 and K200 million,” Maru said.
“Last time the census cost K150 million, however, it was a failure because the report was presented two years late and there was a lot of issues on the credibility, the validity and the accuracy of the census.
“So, basically it was accepted that the last census which was conducted in 2011 was a failure. I want to inform the nation that this government will not fail the coming census.
“We have brought in one of the best global experts to be the chief technical adviser on the census.
“We are also working with a United Nations organisation called the UNFPA (United Nationas Populations Fund) to make sure that we deliver the census on time and accurately.
“Census is the biggest and most important peace-time operation of any nation and any government and it is important that we get it right.
“It is a major undertaking and financial commitment and we are also talking to our partners such as the Australian government, the European Union and other partners to support us co-fund Census 2020.
Maru said international partners would assist with technical assistants by providing drones and local people would be recruited from the provinces to help.
Chief technical adviser Mercedita Tia, who was brought in to provide technical advice on census operations, said they would conduct census in a way that met international standards. She has vast international experience.
“It will be a very big event for the country to have the population census and we cannot afford to fail the census this time,” Tia said.
“So we are making sure that all the technical aspects of it such as the coverage, the accuracy and the completeness will adapt to international standards.’’