The NEWS (Monrovia)
Sheriff Z. Adams
24 March 2008
Monrovia — Patricia Flomo and her entire household waited for more than 48 hours to be counted. They were disappointed that enumerators failed to show up on the first day despite being assured by LISGIS, the group that spearheads this year's census that the exercise would commence on Friday.
Although the exercise did kickoff on Friday, however, some people thought it would have commenced concurrently around the country with enumerators reaching them on Friday. But that wasn't the case.
Like Patricia, residents of central Monrovia, Bushrod Islands and in some parts of rural Liberia were disappointed that they were not counted on day one.
Patricia, 42, a mother of three children, is standing for her third census in 24 years. She and her children along with other family members lived in a small house in the Newport Street community which her deceased husband built just on the brink of the civil war.
She's not the only Liberian enthusiastic about the census. Oldman Joseph Flomo said he and children waited from Friday to Sunday without seeing any enumerator.
However, LISGIS' Census Advocacy officer, Joel Kennedy said the census exercise is not a one-day event. He said at the weekend that the process will continue for another week.
He said some enumerators were not assigned while logistics became a problem in reaching some difficult areas on time.
Kennedy disclosed that the census exercise did commence on Friday throughout the country, but admitted that in some areas the exercise kicked off a bit late.
"I am glad that the process has begun, and in the matter of hours, enumerators will reach every home," Kennedy assured.
Meanwhile, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf who was among thousands of Liberians enumerated on the first day, described the exercise as a great opportunity for Liberia that will enable the country to collect the real and accurate data needed, to underpin the country's development.
An Executive Mansion release quotes the President as saying that the process is vital to the country's future, as it will provide the much-needed data, around which the country will plan its development programs rather than guessing.
To ensure full participation, the President declared last Friday a national holiday, which also coincided with the Christian holy day of Good Friday.
President Johnson-Sirleaf said the fact that the holiday coincided with Good Friday celebrations, should not interfere with the observance of the Christian holiday. The Liberian leader called on Christians to attend their regular services, since the process was not restricted only to Friday.
The President's clarification followed calls by some churches for the postponement of the exercise, in view of the apparent conflict with Good Friday.
In a statement, the Director-General of the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS) Dr. Edward Liberty, thanked the President for the support government has provided to ensure the success of the program.
Dr. Liberty acknowledged the challenges, but assured the President that all measures were taken to ensure the success of the program.
LISGIS has recruited about 10,000 census field staff around the country to carry out the exercise which is expected to end next Friday. Preliminary census results will be made available by May this year. Data processing of the census starts in April and final census figures will be made available in April next year.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The NEWS. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
