Get counted!

– Government officially launches 2023 Housing and Population census

Over 100 enumerators are gearing up to conduct the Turks and Caicos Islands decennial Housing and Population Census and residents are being urged to get counted.

This comes as the government officially launched the event, which was attended by government ministers, enumerators, and members of the private sector.

For the first time, in the Turks and Caicos Islands, the census will be conducted via computer-assisted personal interviews, through the use of laptops, and other handheld devices such as tablets and in some cases cell phones.

This is being done to eliminate the use of paper and simplify the data collection process of enumerators who will be tasked with visiting residents at their homes over the coming weeks.

Coupled with this, through the use of tablets, enumerators will be able to capture Geographic Information System (GIS) coordinates as part of the process, an additional component of data that was not possible with the traditional paper method.

Speaking at the launch, Governor (Ag) Her Excellency Anya Williams, explained that the National census is an important tool to assist the Government in its decision-making process in order to improve the quality of their lives.

She said: “It helps us to know to understand, to analyse, and to better plan in terms of our priorities.

“Here in the Turks and Caicos Islands, we have experienced phenomenal population over the past decades, even in looking at the numbers for the last 10 years between 2012 and 2022 when the last estimated census was carried out, that was an over 30% growth in our population, that those numbers are extremely important to know because countries have to be able to better understand whether their populations are growing too fast, or whether they’re growing too slow.”

Williams stressed that the Turks and Caicos population is growing “extremely fast”, especially the expatriate population.

She said: “But when we look at the really drill down to the detail of our population and we look at the demographics and the dynamics of our population, we will see that… our population is growing at an extremely slower rate as compared to our expatriate population.

“So that helps the government to be able to better plan its priorities to look at what investment is needed, is important to know the distribution of the population across the islands because Turks and Caicos Islands is made up of an archipelago of islands.”

The Acting Governor encouraged residents to cooperate with enumerators during the interviews, as she reminded that the information being collected is critical to the enhancement of lives and livelihoods.

She said: “I’m asking that the public be cooperative. They provide true and accurate information to census officials.

“This information is not being used to help random individuals or for immigration or other purposes it is being done for us to be able to better understand and so we want to say from the outset that this is supposed to be a safe exercise and we want persons to participate.

“But then it helps us to be able to better plan our priorities for the government to be able to know where it needs to implement more programmes, where it needs additional resources and helps us to plan for the future of these islands.

Minister of Finance Investment and Trade, Hon Erwin Saunders underscored that the information collected from the census will help the government to proactively address a wide range of social problems affecting the population.

He said: “Our future starts here, get counted.

“The census will not just be about numbers; that will be a reflection of our society, and essential tool of our nation’s progress, and a snapshot of who we are as a people at this point in time.

“It will provide vital information about our population composition and its needs, this data is crucial to our government’s policy decisions as it enables us to allocate the required resources as well as allow our government in making informed decisions on our citizens, our residents and our nation.

“As we embark on a significant statistical exercise, as Minister, responsible for the country’s statistics, I would like to point out why this is so important.

“A census, the census will not only tell us how many people are living in our country, it will also give us a vivid picture of our population in terms of age, sex, religion, education, occupation, and other significant characteristics.”

He informed that the Census will also help the Government to identify where people live and the conditions of their housing and access to essential amenities such as water, electricity and healthcare.

He added: “The census will allow the government to make well-informed decisions that will impact profoundly on the quality of life of the Turks and Caicos

Islands.

“It is our collective responsibility to ensure that the data gathered is as accurate and comprehensive as possible by participating in the census you are playing a vital role and building a brighter future for our beautiful by nature Turks and Caicos Islands.”

Echoing similar sentiments, Leader of the Opposition Hon Edwin Astwood stressed that it’s particularly crucial for the Turks and Caicos Islands to have relevant information on the demographics.

“I believe that the Census 2023 will give a comprehensive picture of our people and those who reside amongst their social and living conditions.

“I also believe that only a census can provide such complete details.

“But we should know that a census is not an end to itself, rather the results are essential for the effective policy planning and decision-making process.”

He continued: “The census is,

Hon Otis Morris – Minister with responsibility for Postal Services and Mrs Elizabeth Garland-James – Postmaster General, Turks and Caicos Islands Postal Services

A range of issues affecting the Postal Services regionally and internationally and concepts to address these challenges were recently discussed at the 18th Meeting of Caribbean Council of Ministers of Postal Affairs.

Minister of Home Affairs, Hon Otis Morris along with the Postmaster General, Mrs Elizabeth Garland-James, represented the Turks and Caicos Islands at these sessions held at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Miami, Florida from April 2-5, 2023.

The Council engaged in a series of talks on the challenges confronting the postal services with regard to the movement of postal items; United States and domestic shipping trends; the digital transformation of the postal services; the implementation of a regional plan and the presentation of a resolution on the regional strategy; and the implementation plan for postal and courier services.

The meeting was attended by Ministers of Postal Affairs, Postmasters, Directors of Postal Services, and Permanent Secretaries in the various Ministries dealing with Postal Affairs from 19 Caribbean countries, according to a statement from the Ministry of Home Affairs.

In addition to delegations from the Caribbean, there were representatives from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, and Slovenia.

The Postmaster General, Mrs Elizabeth Garland-James, commented that she found the meeting to be very productive and informative and intends to implement some of the strategies and plans discussed into the operations of the Turks and Caicos Islands Postal Services.

Hon Otis Morris stated, “I was very grateful for the opportunity to be amongst my fellow colleagues regionally and internationally, and listen to their issues compared