The
statistician general at the Gambia Bureau of Statistics (GBoS) has revealed
that the budget for the activities relating to the Fifth National Population
and Housing Census in 2013 is estimated to be above US$4M.
Nyakassi MB
Sanyang made this disclosure Wednesday while presenting the annual activity
report and audited financial statement of GBoS for the year ended 31st January
to December 2011, before the Joint Session of the Public Accounts and Public
Enterprises Committee (PAC/PEC), of the National Assembly. He said the
census is conducted every 10 years and The Gambia has successfully conducted
four censuses since independence, the last of which was in 2003.
He also
told the deputies that they plan to open 13 regional offices at least three
months before the actual census count, and that each office needs to be
equipped with a pick-up vehicle. Sanyang added that in the light of the above,
it is recommended that a donor conference be held to solicit more donor funding
for the 2013 Population and Housing Census.
Sanyang
informed the Committee that the 2013 Census has both long and short-term
objectives. He
explained that the long-term objectives can be identified as follows: by the
end of the project, to improve the knowledge on main characteristics of the
population in the country to better understand the interrelationships of the
population and development; build a data capture system that is sustainable and
always available for document management for the GBoS and other government
departments/agencies; analyse demographic and related socio-economic
data/information at the national and sub-national levels, publish reports on
thematic areas and disseminate these findings through seminars, workshops,
internet and the mass media to engender wider access to information and for
better integration of demographic variables in developing planning; and
establish a geo-reference system of demographic and socio-economic information
or planning and management.
Sanyang
said the short-term objectives include the following: To develop skills of the
GBoS staff; Geographic Information System (GIS), data collection, data
processing, analysis, data dissemination and utilisation; to improve
availability, accessibility and utilisation of census outputs in a timely
manner; to identify population characteristics for the purpose of guiding
social-economic policies and programmes; to update the enumeration area maps
and district maps for use in sampling frame for inter-censual surveys; to
establish an integrated GIS for the purpose of producing thematic maps; and to
build a data processing system that produce tables for publication and further
analysis as well as proper archiving of census data.
He said
given the scope of censuses, preparatory activities usually start 2-3 years
before enumeration.“When GBoS
numerators were doing census mapping-out throughout the country, some people
were claiming that they are not aware of any census activity going on, that means
we at GBoS need to inform the people about what is happening so that they
cooperate in what we are doing,” he added.
Sanyang
noted that census activity entails a lot in terms of equipment and other
resources, adding that in West Coast Region alone GBoS would open three
centres, one for Kombo North, while the second centre is for the other Kombos
and the third centre for the Fonis.
He further
stated that preparations for the 2013 Population and Housing Census were
continued in 2011 with the mapping exercise key among the preparatory
activities. He also disclosed that The Gambia is for the first time using
modern Geographic Information System (GIS) technology in census mapping, adding
that with this technology, high quality census maps would be produced using
satellite imagery while a GIS database will be developed.
He
continued: “Recruitment and training for the mapping exercise was done in the
second quarter of 2011. The actual mapping started in June 2011 both in the
field and in office. For the field mapping exercise, teams were constituted and
all teams were deployed to start the exercise in the URR. The official launch
of the 2013 census mapping was also held in Basse, URR in July 2011 and it
coincides with the national celebration of the World Population Day held in
that region.”
The GBoS
statistician general further informed the Committee that field mapping was
successfully completed in URR and Banjul by the end of 2011, and that some
teams have moved into CRR. He explained that to further build national capacity
in GIS, a team was hired by UNFPA to conduct a two-week intensive training in
GIS for the GIS assistants and some GBoS staff.
He added that the training was
not only found to be useful, but also timely. He opined that the census has
been generally well coordinated since it started in mid-2011 at both field and
office levels, adding that the exercise is on schedule as planned and is
expected to be completed by the end of 2012.
Specific Recommendations
While
underscoring that census is an extensive statistical inquiry that requires huge
financial, material and human resources, Sanyang said since 2010, government
and UNFPA are the financiers of the census preparatory activities. According to
him, in the light of the above, it is recommended that a donor conference be
held to solicit more donor funding of the 2013 Population and Housing
Census.
GPPA Compliance Review
Ibraima
Sanyang, senior compliance officer at the Gambia Public Procurement Authority
(GPPA) said that for the period under review, GBoS was found to be
mainly-complaint with the Public Procurement Act 2001 and Regulations 2003. The
Committee then raised comments, concerns and observations before finalising the
adaptation of the GBoS 2011 report.
Source: Daily Observer
No comments:
Post a Comment