The Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) on Friday swore in 13 enumerators for its 2021 population and housing pilot census set to kick off on Monday.

The 13 enumerators are responsible to perform the NSA pilot census for the ||Kharas Region from 18 October till the end of the month.

Speaking before swearing in the enumerators, NSA Senior Communications Specialist, Nelson Ashipala said the aim of the pilot census is to test if the agency is ready in terms of logistics and technology to perform the actual census that is to take place next year.

“I must mention that for the first time we are using tablets, our census will not be done manually as before whereby we used paper and data were recorded manually,” he said.

He said the agency identified about 103 enumeration areas across the country representing different socio-economic and geographical spheres which include school hostels, mines, commercial farms and roadblocks.

For the ||Kharas Region the NSA has identified seven enumeration areas located in the Keetmanshoop Urban and Rural constituencies – mostly farms, the Karasburg West and East constituencies and Oranjemund Constituency.

Ashipala said the agency received 15 000 applications countrywide for the enumerator positions out of which 156 applicants were selected.

The NSA spokesperson while urging those in the selected areas to support and take part in the pilot census, said the agency has in the past experienced a lot of resistance from farm owners that do not want to participate.

“We have seen in the past that farm owners especially in this region do not want to cooperate with our enumerators, sometimes they do not want their workers to be counted and all that, so we plea with them and everyone else in these selected areas to please partake in the process,” he urged.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency