Census shows marginal population growth
-hints Benjamin
Stabroek News
February 27, 2004
Chief Statistician of the Bureau of Statistics, Lennox Benjamin (left) presents Minister of Finance Saisnarine Kowlessar with a preliminary report of the findings of the 2002 Population and Housing Census. (Photo by Ken Moore)
The preliminary findings of 2002's National Population and Housing Census are likely to reflect marginal population growth.
Chief Statistician Lennox Benjamin, yesterday, told reporters that the preliminary results are not very different from the projections that were made by the Bureau of Statistics, which had estimated a growth in the population since the last census in 1991. But he was unwilling to confirm an increase, prior to an official announcement by the government. Guyana's population was tallied as 723,000 in 1991.
Yesterday, Benjamin officially presented a preliminary report of the Census findings to the Finance Minister, Saisnarine Kowlessar, at a simple ceremony at the Ministry Boardroom.
The report will be presented to Cabinet before its findings are officially made public.
The Statistical Bureau is now processing the census data to produce detailed population profiles, Benjamin said.
These include the gender, age, ethnic, education and religious characteristics of the country and the economic and housing demographics as well. Migration trends will also be derived from the data, which will be used by planners and policy makers in government and the private sector as well as regional and international investors.
It is hoped that the data processing will be completed later in the year at which time the data will be funnelled into the regional census machinery, according to the Chief Statistician.
Benjamin said the production of the report is the speediest in the history of census taking in Guyana and he was commended by Kowlessar, who expressed his appreciation for the public's co-operation in the midst of the crime wave that swept the nation.
Benjamin cited this as one of the challenges encountered by the bureau as were the size of the country and the terrain that had to be traversed.
Also present at the ceremony yesterday was Caricom's Regional Co-ordinator for Censuses, Osmond Gordon.