The census fieldwork scheduled to start last Thursday has been delayed again, but enumerators will be “mobilised as soon as possible,” the Central Statistics Office announced the same day.

The three-sentence bulletin released by the office apologised but didn’t provide further information.

The 2023 Population and Housing Census had been scheduled to start last week with the aim of completion in December, the CSO had announced in May.

The Thursday update didn’t say if the projected completion date has also been pushed forward.

The delay was not the first. In May, CSO Director Raymond Phillips explained that the “unavoidable delays” caused by the Covid-19 pandemic had set back the launch date initially scheduled for 2020 — ten years after the previous census in 2010.

“It is critical for the public to offer its full participation and co-operation to ensure the effectiveness of this initiative, which will have a positive impact on all persons who reside in and are visitors to the Virgin Islands,” Mr. Phillips said at the time.

National challenges

The information gathered from the exercise will help assess residents’ social and economic conditions and gauge the population’s needs, ultimately aiding in addressing national challenges, according to the CSO.

“The census collects data on a host of both housing and personal characteristics (of all persons residing in a household) including ownership status, power supply, water supply amenities, country, disability, education, health and employment,” Mr. Phillips said in May, adding, “It is therefore the most comprehensive database the CSO has available.

“Information produced from this database is used by a wide cross-section of stakeholders, including the government, business, universities, researchers and students.”

Confidentiality

The CSO added in May that it is committed to operating with the “highest level of confidentiality” as required by the Statistical Act, 2005.

The exercise — which this year is themed “Participation from you and me is the key for census 2020/2023” — will be a collaborative effort with the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States and the Caribbean Community, according to the CSO.

The 2010 census was released to the public when it was tabled in the House of Assembly in 2014 after years of delays that the CSO blamed in part on the time needed to scan questionnaires and analyse the data gathered.

For more information, contact the CSO at 468-2175.