KUCHING, Sept 19: Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) residents are urged to provide full cooperation when enumerators visiting houses to conduct a population and housing census via face-to-face interview in the coming days.
MPP chairman Lo Khere Chiang in a press statement today said with the approval of State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC), the census, has now resumed from Aug 16 until Oct 31 after several postponements since July 7, 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“SDMC has given the approval for the face-to-face census activities to be carried out in strict compliance with standard operating procedures (SOPs) such as wearing of double face masks and practicing physical distancing.
“I have the assurance from the State Statistic Department that its enumerators, while on duties, will carry along with them their identification cards issued by the department. They will carry out their duties in pairs at least two persons in a pair,” he said.
The census, he added, will be done every day including on public holidays starting in the morning until late afternoon around 5pm to 7pm.
Lo said the late afternoon hours are meant to suit the convenience of office workers who will only be home in the evening.
Noting that the interview will only take about 15 minutes, he said residents are allowed to receive the interview behind gates for safety purposes.
“In the event that the house owners are not at home, the enumerators will issue a Letter of Re-visit (‘Surat Lawatan Semula’) seeking for a new date for the census.
“If house owners are in doubt of the identity of the enumerators, they can call the State Statistic Department for verification (at 082-203994 or 082-230604),” he added.
While all particulars gathered are strictly confidential and solely for data compilation only, Lo said the census is vital for the government to gather enough data to identify the population’s demographic and socio-economic characteristics.
This will help the government to better determine the funding to be spent across the country and for local authorities to improve public services and infrastructure where they are lacking.
“In short, the population and housing data are very important for the government to formulate policies for the well-being of the nation. This is to ensure that every plan meets the needs of the target groups and no one is left out.
“In this regard, I would like to request all of you to give your support and full cooperation in this population and housing census,” he said. — DayakDaily
