Robinson bashes government on handling of census

Opposition Spokesperson on Finance Julian Robinson has criticised the Government over its handling of the 2022 Population and Housing Census, reporting that it spent $4 billion on the exercise which has counted fewer than one million Jamaicans.

Approximately two weeks ago, Minister of Finance Dr Nigel Clarke told the nation that the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), the state agency responsible for the census, had completed data collection and was now analysing the data.

At the end of the 2011 Census of Population and Housing, 2.6 million Jamaicans were recorded.

Robinson, who was making his contribution to the 2024/25 Budget Debate in Parliament on Thursday, said the Government has “failed” at this exercise.

He said the census process was managed badly from the beginning, arguing that the legitimate concerns of census workers were ignored.

“I can give you a laundry list of persons who came to me who worked under very difficult circumstances,” said Robinson.

He criticised the STATIN's management for what he said was the poor treatment of workers, some of whom he said have not been paid.

Clarke, in his opening of the debate on Tuesday, said outstanding information has delayed payment.

“Four billion dollars later, years after the deadline and my information is that we have not counted one million people. We have not counted or enumerated one million people,” Robinson told the Lower House.

Added to that, he said there is no projected deadline for completion.

On Tuesday, Clarke acknowledged the under coverage of Jamaicans in the census, indicating that steps have been taken to use new United Nations methodological guidelines to address this.

- Kimone Francis 

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