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Release the 2022 census data immediately – Norton tells govt.
– says data is the backbone of national planning
(Kaieteur News) – Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and Chairman of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Aubrey Norton on Friday called on the government of Guyana to immediately release the 2022 Population and Housing Census data, reminding that its release is mandatory by law.
At his party’s weekly press conference on Friday, Norton said that the delay is a failure of transparency and national management, reminding the media that the enumeration process had begun on September 15, 2022, in keeping with the standard 10-year cycle. The previous one had been conducted in 2012, this made the 2022 exercise essential in order to upgrade the country’s demographic, social and economic baseline.
Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and Chairman of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Aubrey Norton
“Under Guyana’s law, the release of census data is not optional. The Statistics Act 1965, Chapter 19:09, and the Population and Housing Census Act 1998 the Bureau of Statistics to collect, analyze, and publish national statistical information, including census results. Publishing this data is necessary to ensure transparency, proper planning, and good governance,” Norton stressed.
He highlighted that despite there being clear obligations, the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) government has deliberately refused to release the 2022 census results.
Norton said the situation is cause for public concern since the 2022 census results should have already provided Guyana with the full and accurate national profile. However, it has been more than three years, and the public is yet to see a preliminary report.
“Census data is the backbone of national planning. Without access to reliable census results, stakeholders across Guyana cannot make informed decisions. It is the APNU’s considered opinion that a census is being deliberately withheld to give the PPP a political advantage over other parties as accurate population figures are critical for political planning, strategic decision making and ensuring a free competitive and democratic environment,” Norton added.
He said that withholding a GYD$2B taxpayer funded census for “partisan benefits amongst the institutional corruption as public resources are being manipulated for the PPP’s political purposes rather than for the country’s development.”
He is reasoning that by refusing to have the census published the PPP has created a vacuum that is leaving “businesses, NGO’s, civil society, and international institution without the national data required for planning, accountability, and development.”
“This deliberate withholding of national statistics undermines transparency, weakens institutional credibility, and erodes public trust. Three years without census date is not a delay. It is a profound failure of governance that undermines every national decision,” Norton stated.
He maintained that a census valued $2B cannot vanish into silence adding that Guyanese deserve answers, transparency and the immediate release of the 2022 Census Report.
In addition to the release of the report, APNU is also demanding a transparent breakdown of census expenditure, alongside a detailed explanation for the delays. The combined opposition party is also demanding a timetable for completion and strong institutional safeguards for future censuses.
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